Fraternizing is Forbidden
by FrozenSoldier
Summary: Alice Cullen is sent to boarding school in England as punishment for her behaviour. For her to get back home, she knows she has to be expelled. But what happens when she realises she wants to stay? Will it be too late? *on hiatus*
1. Prologue

**Fraternizing is Forbidden**

**Prologue**

**April 8****th**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

The sun forced its way through my closed eyelids. I groaned and rolled over onto the other side of the bed, but as I did so, something rustled beneath my arm.

"What the,"I grumbled, still half asleep. I pulled out the sheet of paper from beneath me and grimaced as I recognised my father's handwriting.

_Alice, I'm going to be out most the day. The delivery van with the last of Tanya's things is arriving at twelve. You will have to sign for it. I'm going to be picking her up from the International around two in the afternoon, so I'll expect all her things in the house by then. Dad_

I rolled my eyes whilst crumpling up the note, quickly throwing it into the trash. I swung my legs out of the bed and simultaneously grabbed my cell phone. I quickly scrolled through the numbers and pressed call when I found the one I had been looking for.

"Emmett, step-mom invader is arriving today. Let's give that bitch a true Newport welcoming,"I told him with a smirk on my face. "Gather up the boys. There's a party going down at the Cullens'."

I slipped my cell into my pyjama shorts pocket and went downstairs, where I heard my sister listening to Hannah Montana. As I made my way into the kitchen I saw her dancing around in a bikini with a slice of toast in her hand. I grabbed a strawberry Pop-Tart from the shelf and hopped onto the counter, kicking my legs about in front of me.

_Today was going to be a good day_.

"Hey, Cynthia, do you have anything planned today?"I asked her, trying to sound offhand. Just like always, she didn't fall for it, and went on to eye me suspiciously.

"Alice, what are you planning?"she demanded, taking a step towards me.

Jumping down from the counter, I merely tapped the side of my nose. "That is for me to know, and you to find out."

I quickly left the room as I heard the doorbell ring, and I raced to answer it. I knew it was Emmett, already; I could see his reflection through the glass door. I swung the door open just as Emmett grabbed me, pulling me into one of his bear hugs. I gasped that I couldn't breathe, and he let me go, leaving his arm around my shoulder.

"I've gathered up the boys, as you requested,"he told me as I looked towards the door. Sure enough, there were the usual gang waiting outside my door. I grinned as I welcome them all in; I recognised most of them as James, Tyler, Laurent, Eric, and Jacob, but there were a few I hadn't recognised, and Jacob introduced them.

"Alice these are some people from my pack,"he informed me, making me giggle as he referred to them as his _pack_. "Alice, this is Quil, Embry, Paul, Jared, Seth, and Sam."

I smiled at each of them in turn as they all barrelled into my house. I'd seen them around once or twice, but I never realised they were so _big_; each towered over me easily.

After looking down at my watch, I smiled, seeing that it was just after twelve. As if right on cue, I heard the moving van pulling up outside the front gate. I jogged outside and watched as the two movers opened up the back doors.

"I'll take it from here, guys," I told them, watching them sigh in relief; they gave me the slip for me to sign before going to sit in the front seat once again. I turned back to Emmett and his friends as they watched me from the door. I waved them over and pointed towards the open van. "I want these to be left by the trash cans, okay?"

As I walked back inside, I saw Cynthia standing by the window, staring wide eyed at what was going on outside. They were pulling out boxes and stacking them on top of each other right next to the garbage. It was a shame the trash wasn't being taken out today; it would have been quite a thing to watch if they'd taken her boxes away to be destroyed.

"Oh, Alice, you are really going to get it for this. You know that, right?" I heard Cynthia groan from the window.

"Relax, little sister," I said as I waved my hand at her. "That blond bitch needs to know where she's not welcome. She's not right for Dad, _at all_. You've said it yourself."

She didn't respond, but she didn't have to. I knew she agreed with me.

* * *

We all chilled by the pool after they had finished unloading the boxes. One of the boxes had split, meaning the clothes were strewn across the pathway. One or two garments of her clothing had actually found its way into the pool, even though I had no idea how they'd gotten in there.

Although, on inspection, I'd found a pair of gorgeous baby pink _Manolo_ _Blahnik_ heels that were, _coincidentally_, my exact size. They had found their way into my shoe collection.

Emmett was carrying Cynthia around on his shoulders when I heard the very angry voice of Carlisle Cullen roar through the house. Emmett pulled Cynthia from his back and shooed the guys out of the pool and round the back. I smiled at him weakly as he came and stood next to me, ready to face the holler from my father. He was very brave; I had to hand it to him.

"_Mary Alice Cullen!"_I heard him yell as he stepped through the house. I took Emmett's hand, feeling him squeeze it silently as we watched my father come storming out the back door, the blond bitch following right behind him.

When he saw me, he charged forward with his finger pointed in front of him. He was usually such a calm person, hardly ever losing his temper. But seeing his face turning a shade red and his veins bulging, I knew things were about to blow way out of their usual proportion.

_Maybe I've pushed things too far this time, _I thought to myself belatedly.

"You. Out. _Now!_"he commanded, pointing at Emmett, who shot me a sympathetic look before letting go of my hand and scuttling off towards the back gate where the others had just departed.

Bitch-face Tanya was standing, like a fake-tanned Barbie, with her hand over her mouth. She was staring at her clothes that were floating in the pool. I sniggered at her expression, but that only angered my father more, and I was certain he would burst a blood vessel in his eye if I didn't stop.

"What have you _done_, Alice?" he growled at me through gritted teeth.

"I'm just letting her know she's not welcome here," I retorted whilst I glared at bitch face. She couldn't even meet my eye. _What a wimp_. "She's no good for you, Dad. I bet she's after your money."

"That's _it!_" he shouted while throwing his arms up in the air. "You're going to boarding school - in England!"

He stormed off towards the house before I could reply, leaving me wide-eyed and open-mouthed. I knew, for once, that it wasn't an empty threat.

* * *

**A/N****: What did you think? Want to read any more? I hope you do, at least. Check out the amazing banner Beautiful Liar made for this story, the link is on my profile.**

**Summary****: This is different to my other stories. It's a light-hearted story about a girl – Alice – being sent to a new school, in another country, and having to make new friends along the way. I got the idea for this story from Wild Child. Everything else went from there.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N****: Chapter 1!**

**A note to those who have already read the first nine chapters of this story: I'm sorry for the confusion, I decided to pull those chapter, re-write them, and then repost when I knew I'd be able to keep up with a regular updating schedule. I would suggest you read them again, but that's your choice, of course. A lot of it will be familiar, but there are a few alterations that weren't there before.**

**Anyway, ****Roedean is a real school, and I got the description of the uniform from their website. The school is located in Brighton, England. The school is the building in the banner.**

**Disclaimer****: I have Jasper on my wall, but not in my bed. I have Jasper on my computer, but not in my contact list. I love Jasper, but he is not real. Aw crap.**

**I don't own Wild Child****, either. But you know that, too.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Friends, Shoes and Introductions**

**April 20****th**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

Looking out the window, I stared at the ridiculous place called _Brighton._ I'd laughed sourly to myself when I'd stepped off the plane two days ago; there certainly wasn't anything _bright_ about this place at all.

The sky seemed to be a permanent grey colour, and paired with the wind picking up and blowing my hair all over the place, it didn't seem like my ideal place to be. My father had thrown a few apologetic looks my way, but how was he expecting me to respond to this?

It's too little too late, pops. I was here now, and enrolled at some stupid, fancy ass boarding school for girls called _Roedean._ _How the hell am I supposed to even pronounce that shit, anyway_?

My father had hired a car, with a chauffeur, and even went as far as sitting in the back with me. Not that I talked to him, though. I'd hardly talked to him since that day. I'd hoped he would forget about his little threat, but the next day he'd told me I was now enrolled, and was to be starting after their Easter holidays were over.

It was already Easter.

We'd arrived a few days before I was supposed to be starting. My father had been considerate enough about jetlag, and the effects it could have on me if I had to start school the same day as arriving in the country. Granted, jetlag was an awful thing, but it still didn't give me reason to excuse him for bringing me here.

I disregarded the fact it had been my behaviour that brought me here in the first place. That wasn't relevant for the time being.

As the car pulled up outside the school, my father got out and went to greed the headmistress who was waiting outside. I didn't bother getting out; I didn't want to. The sooner I got out, the sooner my father would get back in and leave. Instead, I examined my new home for God knows how long.

The place was _massive_, and looked quite picturesque – I had to hand it that. Though, to a point, it looked like one of those old schools you'd see in those films from the war. It even had two turrets sticking out the top.

After my initial scan of the area, I went back to looking at my Blackberry. Emmett had been messaging me nonstop since I'd left; I already missed my best friend to an unbearable amount.

All of a sudden I heard a rapping on my window, and when I looked up, I saw a young woman, possibly in her late thirties, looking at all. She smiled warmly as I rolled the window down.

"Hello, Mary Alice, my name is Esme Platt," she said as she held her hand through the window for me to shake. "I am the headmistress of Roedean, School for Girls."

"My name's Alice, not Mary Alice," I told her drearily, my downcast mood shining through my voice as I shook her hand quickly. Esme frowned slightly as she retracted her hand, using it to open the door for me. Though she expected me to get out, I didn't move an inch.

"Come on, Alice, don't be difficult," my father pleaded, walking over to me. I met his eye briefly before slowly pulling myself from the car.

"I hate that you've brought me here," I told him quietly, my anger slowly ebbing away as melancholy replaced it. It wasn't necessarily the place that was the problem, it was the fact he was going to leave me here in a few minutes time.

He sighed, placing his hand on my arm and squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry, honey, but it'll do you some good to be here. You're surrounded by some good people."

As he spoke, he glanced towards Esme, and I noticed how they held their gaze for a little longer than I thought necessary. As I looked at my father, I saw a slight smile on his face, one he never used with me or Cynthia.

I cleared my throat, realising what was happening. My father was attracted to my new headmistress. I shook my head, hoping this meant the Barbie-bitch at home was forgotten. In a way, Esme was quite pretty, but that didn't justify why he was trying to charm her.

When he finally returned his gaze to me, he seemed a little flustered. But, true to character, he composed himself moments later.

"Alice, I have to go." He said it gently, as if somehow, that softened the blow. "Your things should be arriving soon."

Moving forward, I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him in a tight embrace. I didn't want to cry, but I could feel the tell-tale signs already. I was going to miss him more than I could bear. We were rarely apart, especially not like this.

"Be a good girl for me now, okay?" he said as he pulled away, placing a quick kiss on my forehead. All annoyance I'd felt towards him in the past few days evaporated. "I'll call you when I reach state side. I love you."

I whispered my response as he got back into the car; I didn't trust my voice to say it any louder. Biting my lip into my mouth to stop from crying, I watched as the car pulled away and drove around the corner, leaving me here all alone.

Slowly, I turned back to Esme, to find she wasn't alone anymore. She was now standing with a girl with mousey brown hair and a heart shaped face. The girl smiled at me timidly, which I tried to return, regardless of the fact I was still fighting tears.

"Alice, this here is Isabella Swan. She will be the one to show you around at Roedean," Esme said as she pointed towards the girl. After that, she excused herself, leaving me and Isabella alone.

In the moment of silence, I looked her up and down quickly and remembered, belatedly, that they wore uniforms to school in England. It was all navy blue, apart from her shoes, which were black lace ups. Though it could have done with a few modifications, I thought the entire outfit was rather cute. I'd never worn a uniform before, not for school, so I was kind of looking forward to wearing one here.

"Hi," I said, giving her a quick wave of my hand. "I'm Alice, but I guess you already know that."

She laughed and nodded. "I'm Bella, by the way. I prefer to be called that than Isabella. Anyway, I'm going to be your roommate, as well. You see the girls standing over there?" She pointed to a group of three girls standing not too far from us. "They are my other roommates; you'll be sharing a room with us."

I nodded, hoping that they were as nice as Bella seemed to be. The last thing I needed was to have a group of bitchy girls to live with. There was a reason why I had a lot more male friends than female. Guys were less likely to stab you in the back.

She looked over my shoulder at something and rolled her eyes. She then excused herself, and turned back towards the group of girl she'd mentioned just a moment ago. When Bella reached them, she whispered something. The tall, blonde one looked up at me and smiled. I waved at the group, wanting to make a good first impression. As I looked away again, I thought to myself that Emmett would just _love_ the blonde one.

"Excuse me," I heard a sickly sweet voice say to my left. I turned to see a brunette girl staring at me. She would have been extremely pretty if it wasn't for the fact she looked as if she'd just swallowed a bee. She had two girls behind her, who were both exceptionally pale with blonde, almost white, hair. They needed to spend a day out in the sun. _N__o, make that a week_.

"I'm Maria, the year representative,"she said, with her hand outstretched in front of me. I looked down at her hand for a second, and then back up at her, raising my eyebrows.

She coughed awkwardly, obviously knowing that I wasn't going to shake her hand. I didn't shake hands with Bella, so why did she have to be so formal? When I didn't move, she pulled her hand back.

"We heard that you are new here, and we were wondering if you would like to be our new roommate," she continued, her smile as annoying as her voice.

"I already have roommates," I told her, trying to be more polite than just saying 'hell no'. Unlike with Bella, I got an immediate vibe that these three girls were ones I wanted to stay away from.

She frowned, as if she'd been expecting me to jump at the chance. "Yes, but they have four people in their room already. We only have three."

"I'd rather be in their room." The tone in my voice left no room for argument. I really wasn't in the mood, not to mention the fact that she seemed like a bitch who didn't like not getting her own way.

She exhaled angrily and turned away from me, storming off towards the main door. Her shadows ran after her like two lost sheep. _P__athetic_. I looked around and saw Bella and her friends watching me with an approving smirk on their faces. I curtsied towards them, and grinned for the first time that day, before walking off towards the main entrance.

I found the main reception, where a small woman was sitting at a computer. Her lips pressed into a tight line as she took in my appearance, and huffed disapprovingly.

"That attire is highly inappropriate for this school,"she scolded me as her eyes stopped on my shoes, and she made a weird tut sound with her tongue.

"Roedeans' day uniform for years seven to eleven is a navy blue skirt and school sweatshirt worn with a pale blue, pale pink or gold polo shirt. Girls are also offered the option of wearing trousers as part of the every day school uniform, but only trousers supplied by the school shop are acceptable. Socks or tights should be navy blue and shoes black or navy blue."

I stared at her with my mouth wide open as she finished, her lips had hardly moved, or maybe it was because she'd spoken so quickly my eyes were too slow to follow.

"Okay, what?"That was all I could manage to say in response. Her brow furrowed disapprovingly, and she huffed at me again.

"Your uniform will be supplied to you," she replied, her tone a perpetual disapproving sound, it seemed.

She gave me some booklets and a map, and then showed me how to get to my room that I had been assigned. I thanked her quickly and walked off in the correct direction. I couldn't wait to get to the room, lie back on my bed and call Emmett. As I opened the door to my assigned room, I found Bella and her friends unpacking their clothes already.

"Hi," I said awkwardly as they all turned to look at me. It was going to be the first time I'd talked to them, apart from Bella, and I was actually quite nervous. In a way, I was certain I'd have felt more at ease if they were a group of guys. However, to my relief, each of them smiled at me, but it was the blonde one who spoke first.

"Hey, Alice, you've got bed number five," she told me, pointing towards the bed. I sighed quietly as I looked over at my bed, and suddenly felt so much better when I saw my suitcase sitting at the end.

"I love your suitcase," she went on to declare. "I would _love_ to have a pink suitcase, but my parents make me use this crappy black thing."

I giggled and smiled at her whilst opening up my case.

"I'm Rosalie Hale, by the way,"the blonde one said with her hand outstretched. I took her hand in mine without hesitation and shook it slightly, smiling at the irony of not shaking Maria's hand earlier.

"My name is Alice Cullen."She smiled and turned back to her case, giving me time to look around at the rest of them. Bella, I recognised, but there were two other brunettes in the room with us.

"What about the rest of you?"

They all turned to me. A small one, with glasses, and her hair in a side ponytail, waved at me, and I noticed a camera in her bag.

"I'm Angela Weber," she introduced herself in a quiet voice. She had a kind face, and I knew I'd like her. I looked at the final unnamed girl and she smiled, just like the rest of them.

"My names Jessica Stanley,"she informed me, she seemed more outgoing than Angela, but still seemed kind.

They went back to unpacking their things, and I took out my shoes and lined them up against the wall. My father had restricted me to only five shoes, against my better wishes. Apparently I wouldn't need them all, but I'd brought a range, anyway.

I heard someone whistle behind me, and I turned to see Rosalie ogling the shoe. I grinned and passed her a pair my one and only pair of Jimmy Choos. They were flats, and probably my favourite pair. She clapped her hand excitedly and tried one on.

"Oh my God. These are gorgeous!"Rosalie exclaimed delightfully. I sat next to her and started gushing over our love for fashion. Jessica joined us, but I saw Bella and Angela rolling their eyes, which made me smile.

Both Rosalie and Jessica tried on the others, and strangely, we were all the same size in shoes, which Rosalie loved because she wasn't allowed to bring any of her shoes along. I patted her on the shoulder completely sympathetic; I would have taken some, anyway.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and the woman from the reception walked in with a wooden tray in her hands. When she saw me, she made that tutting sound again and I coughed slightly in disbelief. Was she expecting me to get changed straight away?

"Mobile phones,"she said, shaking the tray in her hands. They all sighed and placed their phones - _or should I say bricks_ - into the tray. She then turned to me and held the tray out in my direction.

"There's not a chance in hell you're taking my Blackberry. I _need_ this," I told her, backing away slowly. "My dad said he would call me when he arrived home again, and I need it to talk to Emmett and Cynthia."

But she didn't listen. She quickly ducked down and grabbed a pair of my shoes. Both Rosalie and Jessica inhaled with me.

"You give me your phone, and I'll give your shoe back." _The blackmailing little bitch_, I thought to myself. I looked at the shoe in her hand, and sighed as I switched my Blackberry off and placed it in the tray. I held my hand out for the shoe, but, instead, she dropped it on the floor next to her and turned away, walking towards the door.

"Hey, watch what you're doing with my things!" I yelled at her, she turned back to me and scowled. "You should treat it with a little more respect!"

"You need to watch that tone of yours, young lady," she replied, completely ignoring what I'd just said. "I will not be talked to like that."

"Yeah…and…you need to…_get laid_!" I replied, blurting out the very first thing that came to mind. "I think you need a nice strong guy to help you with that stress of yours."

"How dare you insinuate such things about my personal life!" she shouted, completely horrified. I rolled my eyes as she pointed her finger at me. "You've just got yourself a detention!"

With that she charged out of the room and slammed the door behind her. The five of us stood in complete shock for a moment.

"Alice, I can't believe you just told the head of our year that she needed to get some. You do know that she's also the deputy headmistress, right?" Rosalie said, chuckling. "Her face when you said it, though! It was absolutely priceless."

I shook my head, running my hands over my face. "I can't believe I got myself a detention on my first day here. My dad is going to be so pissed when he finds out."

Back home, I'd been notorious for answering back to the teachers. If one of them did something I didn't agree with, they knew about it. I think my father assumed that, just because it was a new school in a new country, I'd change my ways. But after what happened today, it seemed that wasn't about to happen.

Letting out a sigh, I slumped down on my bed. It dawned on me then that I had no means of contacting him, Cynthia, or Emmett. I began hitting my small fist into the mattress, letting out my irritation.

"What's the matter?" Angela asked. I looked up at her and grimaced.

"I have no way of contacting my family or Emmett because that miserable bitch took my phone," I grumbled, my brow pulling together.

"Who's Emmett?" Bella asked from across the room. "Is he your boyfriend?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, he's my best friend, and has been for years. I can't even send them all a message to say that I won't be able to reply to them."

Before anyone else could reply, the door flew open and Mrs I-need-to-get-laid walked in with a pile of clothing, and dumped them on my bed next to me."Your uniform has arrived."

Once again, she stormed out of the room without even a second glance. I looked down next to me at the pile of clothing and my mouth fell open as I lifted them up. My uniform…it was finally here.

"You look really happy that she's brought you those," Jessica said, the tone in her voice telling me she found it hard to believe.

I nodded enthusiastically. "I've never worn a uniform to school before. It's kind of exciting for me."

The material was all fluffy, and the skirt was kind of last decade, but I still couldn't wait to put it on. The others left me to get dressed, waiting for me outside. When I was ready, I smiled at myself in the mirror; I quite liked it. However, I didn't complete the uniform. To spite the miserable bitch for taking my Blackberry, I didn't put on the lace up shoes. Instead, I put on a pair of my own shoes.

As I stepped outside, Rosalie took one look at my feet and shook her head. "You'll never get away with that, Alice," she warned me, seemingly quite amused by my defiance for the rules. "They are really strict when it comes to following the correct uniform."

All I did was shrug my shoulders as they led the way to the dining hall.

* * *

**A/N****: Like it? I hope you don't disagree with Alice's character. I don't want her to come across as bitchy, or spoilt. I must admit, I quite liked adding this twist to Alice's character. She's not just the happy, bubbly girl who loves shopping.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N****: Chapter 2!**

**Alice swears a lot in this chapter, the reason for that is because ****she doesn't want to be there. The swearing will slow down. I hope it doesn't offend anyone.**

**Disclaimer****: Ceci n'est pas le mien.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Dark Corridors and Mysterious Voices**

**April 20****th**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

_This place is fucking ridiculous_.

We had to stand still in front of our chair waiting for Esme to arrive, and only then were we allowed to sit down. _What a load of s__tupid, traditional bullshit_. Back home, you'd be lucky to get to the table while people were still eating, especially if Emmett was around. He didn't wait for food, not for anyone.

But Rosalie and Bella had told me, that if I sat down I'd get another detention, and I already had one. One was enough for my first day. So I remained standing. I was completely bored until Jessica starting grinning and nudged Angela, who then signalled to Bella, making her giggle and look at something over her shoulder. But it was Rosalie that spoke.

"Well, hello there, hottie," she murmured, and I turned to see a tall, lean boy with honey blond, wavy hair walking into the room. She had a point, he was exceptionally cute.

"Who is that?" I asked, not taking my eyes from him.

Bella sighed next to me. "That is Jasper Whitlock, Esme's son."

"He's her son?" I took my eyes off him for the first time since he'd entered the room moments before. "But Esme said her surname was Platt, where did the Whitlock come from?"

"Yeah, that's because he's adopted. She raised him from when he was a baby, apparently," she whispered back, as if she didn't want anyone to hear her telling me about it. I went back to staring at him; he'd just positioned himself in front of his chair.

Jessica let out a quick sigh of frustration. "Maria has no tact whatsoever."

I looked around just in time to see Maria stepping away from her chair and going to stand next to Jasper.

"I don't know why she thinks she has an advantage over everyone else just for being the year representative," Rosalie said as she shook her head. "She has no chance with a guy like that. I don't know why she even bothers."

I nodded in agreement and watched as Maria made small talk with him. I smirked to myself as he kept turning away and answering with one worded replies. He clearly didn't like the attention she was giving him.

_Suck on that, bitch_.

At long last, I heard the doors open, and Esme walked in and positioned herself at the table. Finally, she told us all to sit down, and people started eating. But after taking one look at the plate, I raised my hand.

"Is there anything else I can eat? I'm not a fan of vegetables." My voice was loud enough that everyone in the hall went silent. It was something Emmett used to do at school; he would always make a scene when it was something he didn't like. As I opened my eyes, I saw Rosalie muffling her laughter into a napkin. But when I looked up towards the teachers table, I saw that Jasper had turned halfway in his seat towards me with the cutest smirk I'd ever seen across his face.

"No, Alice, just leave the vegetables and eat everything else," Esme said, sounding slightly baffled. I smiled sweetly at her and turned away. All four eyes of my roommates questioned my sanity.

"What?" I whispered, whilst picking up a sausage. All four of them shook their heads and carried on eating.

* * *

"Excuse me, Mary Cullen," the miserable bitch's voice droned to my left. I kept walking, pretending that I hadn't heard. I _never_ respond to the name Mary. The sooner she understood that, the better.

I heard her call after me again, and Bella nudged my side. "Alice, aren't you going to answer her?"

Sighing angrily, I turned around to see the head of year come towards me. I placed my hands on my hips and waited for her to catch up with us.

"Students are meant to respond when spoke-"she yelled. But I stopped her mid sentence by raising my finger out in front of me.

"First, my name is _not_ Mary, it is _Alice_. You call me Mary, and I will _not_ respond to you." I paused to take a breath. "Second, I don't like the tone you use when speaking to me, either."

With that I turned away and walked towards the door. "_Detention!_"I heard her shriek at me, making me stop once again. I turned to face her, my eyebrow raised.

"_Whatever_,"I muttered whilst looking her up and down. As I went to turn back, I caught Jasper's eye. He was watching me with an adorable lop-sided smirk on his face, and that alone helped to dissipate some of my anger.

I pushed my way through the crowd to get to the exit and made my way back towards our room. The clicking of my stiletto heels bounced off the walls with an echo. This place was seriously creepy when you're on your own.

After pushing open the door to our room, I slumped onto my bed in the corner and shrieked into my pillow. It was times like these when I would go see Emmett; he always knew what to say to make me laugh and take my irritation away.

I was alone for all of five minutes before the door opened and Rosalie stepped in with a pile of clothes in her hands. I groaned in disbelief as she placed the pile on my suitcase.

"That was quite an entrance you've made to Roedean," she said with a smirk. "Mrs Crawford – that's the head of year, by the way, is absolutely _fuming_, and Maria's shouting at anyone she hears talking about you."

"Well, that's a bonus if I've pissed off Maria, as well," I told her feebly. I wasn't even in the mood to be happy about pissing the miserable bitch off.

"Yeah, she saw the way Jasper was looking at you," she said, and then threw her head backwards and laughed. "Her face was fucking priceless. I'm surprised she didn't turn green with jealously."

What the fuck is wrong with me? Normally I would be laughing along with her at something like that, but here I was sitting without even a fucking giggle coming out.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Rosalie whispered, coming to sit next to me on the bed. "I thought you'd be pleased that you've managed to piss off Maria."

"I am," I said, my voice making it sound like a lie. She raised her eyebrow sceptically. "No, really, I am, it's just I miss home, that's all. My best friend would know exactly what to say to cheer me up."

"Your best friend, Emmett, right?" she asked, her tone hinting that she was going somewhere with that. I looked at her suspiciously as she got off the bed and went to her bedside cabinet, pulling out a sequinned purse.

"Here," she said as she threw it towards me. I caught it and looked back up at her with my eyebrow raised.

"Open it up, you Muppet."

My eyes widened in shock as I pulled out an iPhone. I looked from the phone to Rosalie a couple more times before I was able to speak.

"How the hell have you still got your cell phone?" I practically yelled at her. She quickly shushed me, and sat on the end of the bed with a devious grin across her face.

"The phones we gave Mrs Crawford are our fakes. Come on, we _are_ in the twenty first century. Do you really think I'd have a Sagem V55?" she asked, sounding almost disgusted at the idea. "We get our phones back for the final month of term, so we've only got to keep these hidden for few weeks."

I stared down at her phone and a smile formed on my face. _M__y appreciation for these girls just keeps on growing, _I thought to myself. I sighed and placed the phone back into the purse, handing it back to her. However, she just shook her head and pushed my hand away.

"Use it to call Emmett or your parents, or something," she told me with an encouraging smile. "It's the least I can do after the amusement you've caused me so far."

"I can't, it will use all your credit." I sighed, trying not to sound too disappointed. There was a part of me that wanted to use it, but it was just unfair. The price of calling for even a minute would drain the money she had on here.

"My phone is on contract. Besides, my parents are paying for the bill, and remember, they are sending me here," she informed me. "As long as you don't talk for something crazy like an hour, you can use it."

Before I could say anything more, she got up from the bed and left the room. I looked back down at the phone and realised that I could finally call Emmett. It really has been too fucking long since I talked to that boy.

I dialled his number and put the phone to my ear, tapping my finger on the desk next to me, waiting for it to connect. I almost threw the phone across the room when I heard the automated voice telling me that it wasn't possible to connect the call. _I don't think Rosalie would like me very much if I smashed her phone, _I mused as I placed the phone back into the purse.

I walked over to the bedside cabinet and placed it inside. Sighing to myself once again, I closed the cabinet. So much for being able to talk to Emmett, it looked as if I'd have to wait even longer now. It was all so fucking typical; the one time I need to talk to him, his damn cell phone was turned off.

After looking down at my watch, I grimaced when I realised it was only 8.46pm. _What the fuck am I going to do now? _I couldn't listen to music, I couldn't watch TV, and I couldn't talk to my friends.

_I want out of this hell hole_.

The door opened at the same time, and all four girls barrelled into the room, looking bored out their fucking brains. I sat up on bed, but as I was about to speak, Mrs Crawford walked in.

"Start getting ready for bed, girls," her whiny voice droned.

"You have to be fucking shitting me, right?" I screeched at her. Her mouth fell open, and I actually had to repress a giggle at the sight of it.

"Language!" she shrieked, turning a strange shade of red.

"It's English, isn't it?" I replied in a sickly sweet voice. Her eyes practically bugged out of their sockets.

"Detention!" she cried, making her voice raise a few octaves, before storming out of the room.

I sighed dramatically. "Is that all she knows how to say?"

I turned back to my suitcase and pulled out a camisole and matching shorts, and then stalked off towards the crappy communal bathroom down the hall. When I returned to our room, they were all ready dressed in their pyjamas. Bella and Angela were reading some chunky hardback book; Jessica was flipping through some magazine, while Rosalie was tapping away at her cell. When I walked in, she looked up at me and smiled.

"Did you get to talk to Emmett?" she asked enthusiastically.

"No, that stupid dimwit didn't have his phone on." She grimaced and looked at me apologetically. I was slightly taken aback at how easy it was to be friends with Rosalie; out of all of them, it felt as if I was closest to her.

"How do you guys even keep in touch with your family and friends?" I asked them, sounding frustrated.

"Well when we can't use our mobiles, we usually send emails," Bella said whilst placing a bookmark into her chunky book.

"You mean there's internet access around here?" I asked, suddenly sounding hopeful.

"Well, only in the computer room," Jessica joined in, sounding slightly miffed; I wondered briefly if she had a laptop with her.

"Where is this computer room?" I asked, already looking around for some shoes to wear.

"It's down the opposite corridor from the dining room," Angela informed me, almost reluctantly.

I quickly pulled on a pair of beige Ugg boots and skipped towards the door. However, Bella stopped me before I could open it. "Hey, you can't go out after lights out."

I turned back to her and pointed towards the lights. "I'll think you'll find the lights aren't out, brainiac."

I pulled open the door before she could say anything more, and hopped out into the corridor. This place was like a fucking haunted castle; in all seriousness, it could be some freaky shit in the dark. But I pushed that thought to the back of my mind, focusing on my destination, instead.

I found the corridor in which Angela had mentioned, and I skipped to the door that was labelled _Computer Room. _I quickly booted up on of the nearest computers, but quickly realised I didn't know how to log in.

I looked around the room, until I found a small sheet on the notice board telling students that their log in was their name with password being _student._ When I finally logged in, my mouth fell open as Windows XP loaded up.

"So fucking primitive," I murmured to myself as I loaded up the internet. I quickly logged into my hotmail account and opened up a new email.

To: Joker250

From: PixieGirl

Subject: I Hate Boarding School

Hey Emmett,

How are things state side?

The weather is horrible still. The clouds cover any type of sunlight, so it's _always_ fucking grey. I miss the blue sky!

This place is from the Stone Age, I swear it. The computer I'm on is Windows fucking XP! Ever heard of Windows 7? Hello?

They even have some kind of head girl – it's not Hogwarts for God sakes. The head girl is a real bitch, too. She's really got it in for me...I don't even know why. Okay…maybe I wasn't so nice to her when we first talked, but that's beside the point.

I _HATE_ it here! I've already got THREE fucking detentions from the head of year. She seriously needs a good makeover, not to mention some stress relief pills. She even took my Blackberry from me, which is why I wasn't able to message you or anything. Oh, and can you tell Dad that it got taken from me? I don't want him thinking I'm ignoring him or anything.

Although, it's not all bad, the girls I share a room with are cool. There's one called Rosalie who I just know you'd LOVE.

Which reminds me, since when do you turn your phone off? I tried ringing you on Rosalie's cell, and it said it wouldn't connect. I was counting on you telling me something to make me laugh.

Anyway, I have to go. It's fucking ridiculous here. The lights are out by fucking nine in the evening! I used to be still out with you and the guys at that time!

I wish you were here; you'd make this hell hole bearable.

Love you,

Alice _x_

I quickly clicked _send_,and logged off the crappy computer. As I walked out of the room, the chilliness of the corridor hit my bare skin and I shivered. _Don't they have any fucking heating around here?_

I picked up my pace as I went down the corridor; it was getting even colder as I got nearer to the dormitories, and I wasn't about to catch a cold. That was the last thing I needed.

It was then that there was a strange whirring sound, and all of a sudden everything went black, and I couldn't see a fucking thing in front of me.

"Holy fucking shit," I squeaked in a small voice, my eyes darting around the darkness in front of me.

"Excuse me?" a bodiless, yet smooth voice called out to me from some direction, making me yelp and jump out of my skin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he murmured in an apologetic voice.

"Yeah, well you did a good job of it, let me tell you," I scolded him, glaring into the darkness. I couldn't see where he was, and I couldn't even tell whereabouts he stood. This fucking creepy place was making his voice bounce off the walls around us.

"Your name is Mary, isn't it?" he whispered with an amused lilt in his voice. I could hear it in the way he spoke; he fucking knew I didn't like to be called Mary. However, I didn't know who the fuck this guy was, and he could easily be a teacher. I didn't want to be given yet another detention.

"My name is Alice, don't call me Mary, Cullen," I retorted, inwardly slapping myself because of how that just sounded. "Shit. That didn't come out how I wanted it to…"

I heard a small chuckle coming from the darkness, but moments later, it went silent again.

"I'm going to try getting the lights back on. You wait here, okay?" he told me. I had the urge to tell him to stay with him, but I just couldn't embarrass myself like that. After a moment, I heard him walk away. His footsteps echoed off the walls, making it sound even fucking creepier around here.

Following his orders, I remained where I was in the cold corridor. I was relieved when I heard the same whirring sound, and the lights illuminated the hallway. Blinking spastically from the light, I covered my eyes slightly waiting for them to adjust.

I stood rubbing my hands over my bare arms as I waited for a minute longer, wondering whether the guy I had been talking to was going to return. But as the seconds passed, he didn't appear. So, after deciding not to wait around any longer, I quickly ran back towards the room.

As I got back, I quickly slammed the door behind me, and leant back against it, catching my breath. I heard someone sitting up in bed and switching their bedside light on.

"What's the matter with you?" It was Bella that had sat up.

"The fucking lights went out as I was coming back. It was pitch black out there, and then some guy suddenly appeared, and made me jump. Then he went and switched the lights on."

I was rambling, so I stopped momentarily to catch my breath.

"Then when they came back on, I was on my own, and he never returned. So I literally ran all the way back," I continued as I quickly scrambled under the bed covers.

"Weird," I heard Bella say, drawing out the syllables, as she too lay back down on her bed.

"Maybe it was a ghost?" I heard Rosalie giggle from beneath her covers.

"Funny," I muttered dryly as I curled up under the sheets. I heard her giggle again, and then it was silent.

I closed my eyes and willed sleep to find me, I had had one heck of a day and I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep so that I could forget all about it. But as I lay there, I couldn't help but think about how nice the bodiless voice sounded.

When sleep finally found me, nearly an hour later, I dreamt of dark corridors and mysterious voices.

* * *

**A/N****: Who is the mysterious voice at the end? You'll find out soon!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N****: Chapter 3!**

**Thank you to my readers! Alice is still rebelling, hence why she swears so much.**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Jasper. I just choose what he wears in this story.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Alice in Wonderland**

**April 21****st**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

_Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling_

I simultaneously bolted upright in my bed, and covered my ears as the alarm started again. I looked around the room, trying to find the source of the annoying sound. My eyes landed on a grey alarm bell that looked like something we had in high school. It was sounding repeatedly, rather annoyingly so. _I'll have to incapacitate that bitch at some point,_ I thought to myself, whilst glaring at it.

"They have bells in your fucking _room_?" I shrieked as I threw my covers back. I grabbed my shower bag from the side and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind me. The shower was better than I expected, so I took a long time revelling in the heat of the water on my skin.

The alarms had stopped about ten seconds after I'd stormed from the room, but they had done what it was intended to do - I was wide awake. After inspecting my watch, it was only seven twenty five in the morning. Breakfast was at eight, apparently, and I had fuck all to do once again. So I decided to go to the computer room.

As I logged in, I was relieved to find a new email from Emmett. It was when I'd started reading, that I realised how much I missed that kid.

To: PixieGirl

From: Joker250

Subject: RE: I Hate Boarding School

Hey Pixie,

Things are alright here, nothing without you though, babes :(

Can't believe someone took your Blackberry. I don't know what I'd do without some kind of gadget on me.

So, you've got yourself three detentions, huh? That even beats my record. Way to go, Alice, I'm totally proud of you!

You want me to cheer you up? Well, get this, Tanya has left your dad. She said she couldn't bear to be in a family with such a rebellious child - her words, not mine. I kinda feel for your dad, but strangely, he didn't seem pissed at all, he even helped her pack up her shit, apparently. Well, what we'd unpacked for her, at least.

I'm sorry, babes, my phone is staying on all fucking day and night if it has to. I don't give a shit about time zones or whatever; you call me whenever you need me, got it?

So…what's this Rosalie like? Is she hot?

Emmett

I victoriously punched the air with my fist as I read that bitch face had left because of me. I was even gladder that my father didn't seem pissed. After everything, I didn't want him to be unhappy. Once I'd checked my watch, I decided that I had enough time to reply.

To: Joker250

From: PixieGirl

Subject: RE: I Hate Boarding School

Hey Emmett,

I can't believe I've actually managed to get rid of bitch face, fucking yes! I literally punched the air when I read that bit. I knew you'd say something to make me smile :)

You wanna know about Rosalie? Okay, well she's about five foot seven with long blonde hair. I swear she is like totally made for you. She's a complete fashion girl as well, I'm even thinking of letting her borrow some of my shoes, and you know what I'm like with shoes!

Anyway, last night, when I was walking back to my room, after sending you that email, the fucking lights went out. I tell you, it was like one of those nights on most haunted. Couldn't see a fucking thing, and then suddenly this guy calls out to me, and I swear he had the loveliest voice ever. I didn't even get to see him, so I can just bet he's a teacher or something. Oh my god! I'm crushing over a TEACHER.

Emmett, see what England is doing to me? I'm giving out my shoes and crushing over a teacher's voice. I need saving!

Oh, not to mention how this morning I got woken up at like seven by a fucking bell in MY ROOM. You know I'm not a morning person, and waking up at this time is not good. It's as if I've been enrolled at boot camp!

I've got to go now. It's almost eight and I've got to go down for breakfast.

Love you,

Alice _x_

I quickly sent the email and logged off from the computer. I made my way to the dining room, where I could smell cooked breakfast. My stomach rumbled at the smell of it, and I entered the room eagerly.

As I walked into the dining hall, my mouth fell open as I saw all the girls already in their uniforms. I realised, belatedly, that we weren't meant to wear pyjamas to breakfast. _Shit_.

I got a few stares as I collected my breakfast in my camisole and shorts. Mrs Crawford was practically having a seizure where she sat when she first noticed me. But I only felt conscious when in walked Jasper fucking Whitlock, in a pair of low slung, black skinny jeans, and a black and white chequered hooded sweater. His eyes met mine, and I blushed as his eyes raked up and down my body, as if he was assessing me.

"Are they even pyjamas?"the snotty nosed cow, Maria, chided from behind me. I span around to see her standing in full uniform, looking at me in absolute disgust spread across her face.

"Have you never seen pyjamas like this?" Aw, I'm sorry. How about you let me borrow one of your frumpy nightgowns, then?" I asked her in a sickly sweet voice. There is a muffled snicker from behind me, and Maria's face scrunched up even further.

"Hi, Jasper," she said, barging passed me to stand in front of him. "Will you be eating your breakfast in here?"

"Uh, no. I'm gonna take it to my room," he said, sounding almost relieved. He quickly picked up a bowl of cereal and turned to leave.

"Bye, Jasper,"Maria said in a ridiculously girly voice. I rolled my eyes at her just as Jasper turned back to face us.

"Bye, Maria," he replied almost robotically, before looking at me. "Bye, Alice, don't call me Mary, Cullen," he said with a smirk. All of a sudden, something clicked in my mind as he turned away again.

"Hey, that was _you_?" I shouted after him in disbelief. He glanced back at me again with a lopsided grin on his face. But he carried on walking away, much to my disappointment. I kind of wanted to ask him why he hadn't come back last night.

I sighed as I realised that he was the one I'd been talking to in the corridor, and not a teacher. I suddenly felt so much more relieved that it wasn't teacher I had dreamt about last night.

But then it dawned on me, I had been dreaming about the headmistresses son. _Jesus_, this wasn't looking good.

Maria huffed to the side of me, and a heard her clench her teeth. She turned to face me for a second, her glaring looking deadly enough to kill. But after I met her glare with one of my own, she stormed off, most probably finding her shadows. She hadn't even taken anything for her breakfast.

I grabbed a small bowl of cornflakes, and covered it in milk. There was another box of something called Wheatabix, but that looked totally revolting. I grabbed a spoon from the side and found Bella and Jessica sitting on a table near the far corner. They just smiled as I sat down, neither of them commenting on my clothes.

Rosalie and Angela arrived minutes later, each with their breakfast and sat down. We ate in silence for a moment, until I decided to tell them my news.

"Guys, I've worked out who the mysterious voice was from last night." They all look up at me eagerly. "Jasper Whitlock," I told them, leaving a pause between the each word.

"No way," Rosalie and Jessica said in unison. I nodded at them, and Rosalie clapped her hands manically.

"Oh my God, you got to be in a dark corridor alone with Jasper. Damn girl," she said in awe, as she gave me a high five.

We all sat gushing over how cute we thought Jasper was, when that bastard fucking bell started ringing again. I slammed my tiny fist down on the table, making Bella laugh.

"Why is that fucking bell ringing again?" I yelled as I stood up to leave.

"We have our first lesson now," Bella informed me.

"That means you have to get dressed," Rosalie joked.

* * *

"You have gym in the morning?" I squeaked as they led me to the changing rooms, and gave me a pile of clothes that I guessed were my sports kit.

"We don't call it gym, here. It's called P.E – like physical education," Angela informed me as she changed into her kit. I quickly pulled on the kit after realising that everyone else was almost ready.

I followed the rest of the girls out to a large gym, where they all rushed to a small closet and picked something out the box. Rosalie returned to me, pushing a pair of shoes into my hands.

"Here, put these on." I looked down at the muddy, studded sneakers and shin pads that I'd only seen Emmett wear before.

"We never used to wear boots inside," I stated, still eyeing the sneakers sceptically.

Bella walked passed me and laughed; she'd already put hers on. "We're not staying inside, you fool."

I groaned as I pulled the horrible boots onto my feet and put the shin pads in place. _Who knew how many people have used these_.

I followed the group outside, where two women were standing, both dressed in sports gear. The brunette told us all to sit down in a group in front of her.

"Hello class, my name is Zafrina, and this is Kate," she said pointing to the blonde standing next her. "We will be taking you for P.E for the rest of the year."

"Right, this term, we will be starting with Hockey. I'm sure you're all aware of the basics, so we'll go right into-"But I stopped her midsentence by raising my right hand.

"I've never played Hockey in my life," I told her, looking around as a couple people gave me an odd look. Her face puckered as she looked over at Kate, then back at me.

"Okay, well I guess we can start with the basics with you demonstrating so that you can learn at the same time," she told me, rubbing her hands together. She sounded way too enthusiastic over this.

I got up from my position on the floor and walked over to stand in front of the group. She handed me a wooden stick, and placed it in my hands correctly. After speaking for a little longer about the necessity of holding the hockey stick correctly, she asked for a volunteer.

Of course, the snotty nosed bitch raised her hands and walked over to stand in front of me with a hockey stick in her hands. I caught the look on Rosalie's face and grimaced. This was going to be a long class.

"Okay, Alice, I want you to gentle pass the ball to Maria, then watch how she stops it," she said as she took a step back. I half heartedly hit the ball towards Maria, already getting bored. Maria bent down on one knee and turned the stick over; the ball hit the back and slowly rolled to a stop. It all seemed easy to me - no wonder the others were half asleep.

"Right, Maria, now you gently pass the ball back to Alice,"Zafrina shouted from the sidelines. I caught one look at Maria's expression as she swung her stick back and whacked the ball towards me, and knew I couldn't trust her.

I tried to stop it, but it was too fast, and it ended up hitting one of my knuckles, making me cuss. I stood up immediately, and started rubbing my finger, while throwing death glares at Maria.

"She said pass gently," I growled at her.

"Oh, sorry, I must have hit it a little too hard," she told me in a ridiculously sweet voice that made me want to puke.

"Yeah, I'll remember that one for when I hit the ball in your face," I snapped back at her. Someone shouted _good comeback, _but the class was silenced when Kate stepped forward with her hands raised.

"Quieten down, girls," she shouted above the chatter of the class. I gawped at her as she carried on with teaching the class, just as if none of that had even happened.

"Right, now we will move onto interception," she said, taking a hockey stick from the side. She demonstrated with Zafrina first, and then she signalled for us to try. I got given the ball first, which meant that Maria would be the one to intercept me. I gritted my teeth as I started to move with the ball. This wasn't going to end well.

I soon found out what a fucking task it was to keep the ball moving straight. I was concentrating so much on keeping the ball moving straight, that I didn't realise Maria was intercepting me until it was too late to do anything about it. She pushed her stick out in front of me, and forced it against my shins, making me fly forward into the mud.

I got up from the floor, threw my stick to the ground, and then charged at Maria who was standing with her arms crossed. She was gloating, with her two shadows beside her.

"You stupid bitch, you did that deliberately!" I yelled at her, going to push her over. But I got intercepted by Kate, who held me back by the shoulder. I shrugged out of her grasp as if she'd just electrocuted me, and stepped away from them all. I looked between Zafrina and Kate, waiting for them to say something to Maria.

But they didn't.

"Alice, I think it's best if you go visit Esme," she told me in a stern voice. I looked between them as my eyes widened in disbelief.

"You have to be shitting me! She _clearly_ did that deliberately!" I screeched at them, but neither of them said anything more. So, I turned away, and stomped back towards the school, not even bothering to get changed into my uniform. I kicked off the stupid boots across the changing room and made my way towards Esme's office. I didn't even know what the hell I was going to say to her.

Finally, as I arrived at her door I opened it up and walked in. It was like one of those rooms where all the walls were covered in books and pictures, with a desk at the far end. _So old fashioned, _I thought to myself.

"Hello, Alice," Esme said, sounding amused. "Next time, do remember to knock before you walk in."

I exhaled impatiently, but nodded and watched as she signalled for me to sit down, whilst shuffling some papers on her desk. She knotted her hands together and looked up at me.

"So, Alice, why, may I ask, are you in here, covered in mud, and not wearing any shoes?" she said after appraising me.

"Maria tripped me up in our hockey class, and she did it deliberately, I might like to add. Then I got sent here, and it was totally unfair," I rambled, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I never mentioned the fact that I called her a stupid bitch. That one probably wouldn't go down too well.

"I'm sure there must be a misunderstanding. Maria would never trip someone up deliberately," she said, sounding very sure of what she was saying.

I snorted.

"It looks like there's another one in the Maria fan club. That bitch has a _serious_ problem with me, and I haven't even done anything," I remarked, getting angrier by the minute. "All I did was tell her I didn't want to stay in her room, and she turned into a sour bit-"

"Alice, I think your attitude and language isn't getting you anywhere," she said, with a look of concern on her face. "You've already landed yourself with three detentions, and you haven't been here a full twenty four hours. I'm a little disappointed by your behaviour, and in fact, I've been talking to your father."

She paused as a small blush formed on her cheeks. "Well, he's been telling me what a great girl you are," she told me softly. "I really think that this attitude is just a front, and not who you really are_."_

_What is she a therapist?_

"I'm sorry, okay. It's not easy moving to a different country on your own," I reminded her. I found myself feeling annoyed by the fact that she was talking to me about home.

"I know, Alice. I can see that it's going to take a little getting used to. I know that England is quite different to what you are used to,"she murmured, more to herself than anyone. She suddenly got up from her chair and walked over to one of the bookshelves on the right side of the room, taking a book from the shelf.

"I always find that books help me to calm down, or even cheer me up, if I need it," she said. I found it very hard to believe that someone like Esme could lose her rag. She was kind of like my father, in that way; he was usually the calm one in pretty much every situations.

"I think it will do you some good to read while you're here," she said whilst handing me the book. I looked down and saw that it was called Alice in Wonderland. I smiled as I remember my mother reading it to me when I was younger. She would say that I reminded her of little Alice because of my creative imagination.

"Thank you, Esme,"I whispered, not trusting my voice not that I'd been thinking about my mother. She nodded at me and went back to sit behind her desk.

"Once you've finished with it, you can return it back to me," she said with a warm smile on her face. I realised that she was dismissing me, so I got up and left.

As I got outside, I took a deep breath and slowly started making my way back towards the changing rooms. I clutched the book to my chest, as a single tear rolled down my cheek.

* * *

**A/N****: Send me some love!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N****: Chapter 4!**

**This chapter moves forward a couple of weeks. I hope you like it.**

**Thank you to my readers! Sorry for the wait, I would have updated this last week, but RL was crazy.**

**Disclaimer****: If I owned Twilight, you'd be asking **_**me**_** if you could review, not the other way around.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Operation: Expulsion**

**May 30****th**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

_Five weeks in this place and I swear I'm going insane._

I found that I was starting to like the rain, which was totally not like me. I _hated_ the rain, usually. But when it was raining, I would sit by the window reading, as Esme had suggested. It was peaceful when I read; I didn't have to think about anything else. I just got lost in the world of make believe.

But then the bell would go off, and dinner would be ready, or a class would be starting soon, and I'd have to follow orders, and do what everyone expected. I was fucking sick of it. I wanted to go back home.

"_Fuck off_!" I screamed as the bell rang loud and precise at seven, just like it did every morning. "It's Saturday, for God sakes," I cried as I slid out of bed. They didn't even let up on weekends. It was as if they wanted teenage girls to be permanently cranky.

"Stupid piece of crap," I muttered as I made my way to the shower block. It was like a routine for me – get up, shower, eat breakfast. It was another thing I was getting sick of. I craved to sleep in for once.

An idea came to me whilst I was in the shower. I suddenly realised what it was I needed to do to get out of this place once and for all. I quickly dressed and ran back into our room.

"Guys, I need to get expelled," I told them, sounding too excited for what I was saying. All four eyes stared at me, questioning my sanity, as they'd done quite a few times before.

"_What_?" Angela demanded.

"You are pure crazy," Rosalie muttered.

"Are you serious?" Bella asked.

"Why exactly are you telling us that?" Jessica said, being the first person I could properly answer.

"Well, as you all know, I really want to get out of here, and I've worked out that the only way I can do that is by getting expelled," I told them as I bounced about on the spot.

"I repeat, you are pure crazy," Rosalie said with a chuckle. "But, I will help you. I need something to excite my weekend."

I grinned at her and looked around at the rest of them. Bella pulled a face, but agreed to help. Jessica agreed immediately, giving me a high five, and Angela just nodded, before going back to reading her book.

"So, what's the plan, then?" Rosalie asked, sounding eager. I skipped to the end of her bed, and perched on the end, grinning at her.

"Well, I thought, for starters, I will sabotage those alarm bells," I told her, signalling towards the one in our room.

"Nice plan," Rosalie mused giving me thumbs up.

"Yeah, but they have to know it was me that did it, or else my plan won't work," I said, realising now that it might be harder than I thought to get caught.

"Where are the alarms controlled from?" I asked, looking around expectantly.

"The only place that I know of will be Esme's office," Angela told us, placing her book on the side.

"I had to go see her about some arrangements, and she had to set the bell off for next lesson. All she did was turn this key, and then the bell went off." She paused to catch her breath. "But, get this; she said that if she ever lost that key, she wouldn't be able to start the bell."

A smirk formed on my face as she finished. I had just the plan.

* * *

After knocking on the door three times, I entered as she told me to come in. She smiled at me as I sat down opposite her.

"What can I do for you, Alice?" she asked softly. I held up the Alice in Wonderland book, and placed it on the table in front of her. I didn't exactly want to give it back yet; I'd read it, but I still wanted to read it again. However, for this, I'd give back anything.

"Did you enjoy it?" she asked as she took it and placed it back on the shelf.

I nodded. "Yes, thanks. You were right, I think it did help."

"Good, I was hoping that it woul-" But she was interrupted by a sudden high pitched squeal coming from directly outside her door. I contained my smile as Esme got up to investigate.

As soon as she was outside the door, I jumped up from my seat and headed towards the area in which Angela had told me the bell control was situated. After finding the key inside the control box, I pulled it out and placed it in my pocket. I could still hear Esme talking outside, so I quickly shut the lid and sat back in my seat.

When she walked back in, she found me sitting in the seat she left me in, as if I hadn't moved since she left. I smiled at her politely as she passed by.

"What was that all about?"I asked, feigning curiosity.

"I really don't know," she replied, baffled. "When I got out there the corridor was empty, my secretary came out to ask the same thing."

I quickly dismissed myself after that, and made my way outside. I found Rosalie and Bella waiting round the corner. They both looked up at me expectantly. I dangled the key from my forefinger, and Rosalie did a victory dance while Bella gave me a high five.

"Brilliant distractions skills you have, Rosalie," I remarked, making us both giggle. I linked arms with them both, and together, we made our way back to our bedroom.

"So, what are you going to do with the key now you have it?" Jessica asked when we filled her and Angela in on the story.

"Well," I pondered. "Being that I'm going for maximum effect here, I was thinking of slipping it in Maria's pocket."

It was silent for a few seconds, before they all burst into laughing. I grinned at them all, and decided to put my plan into action. We all left together, knowing that Maria and her two shadows would be in the library at this time of the day. We all slipped into the library silently, taking a seat at one of the tables.

"Right," Rosalie began in an objective tone. "One of us needs to slip the key into Maria's pocket. It can't be Alice, as Maria would be on high alert as soon as she sees her."

I nodded in agreement, before taking a look at Maria who was standing talking to her shadows.

"What about the shadows?" I asked, making them look at me strangely."Those two," I whispered, pointing towards the two blonde girls standing with Maria.

"Oh, you mean Nettie and Lucy," Bella said, finally understanding. "They could be a problem."

"Two of you will have to distract them, whilst the other slips the key into Maria's pocket," I decided, and they all nodded as they chose their jobs. I whispered _good luck _to Bella and Angela as they went off to collect their props.

Jessica remained by my side, whilst Rosalie went off with the key. I watched as Bella and Angela walked passed Maria with a large pile of books and tripped over. I don't know what Angela said, but both Nettie and Lucy went over and helped them pick them up.

I smiled as I watched Rosalie stand in the queue behind Maria. I held my breath as Rosalie stretched out, and plopped the key into Maria's pocket. But, thankfully, Maria didn't seem to notice. Rosalie then went to help carry the books with Bella, as if nothing had happened. By the time Bella and Angela had put all the books back, Maria and her shadows had left the library, and operation: expulsion was well underway.

We waited around in our dorm for twelve fifteen to come around so that we could tell whether they had another key or not. But as it passed by twelve thirty, we knew we had succeeded in our plan, and decided to go down to see if lunch had been prepared.

As we rounded the corner, we saw girls piling into the lunchroom, obviously ignoring the fact that there hadn't been a bell signalling lunchtime. We followed them in, and after realising that neither Esme nor any of the other teachers had arrived yet, we went and sat down with our lunch.

"When do you think Maria will notice that she has the key?"Angela asked what we were all thinking.

"I want to know what she does with it when she finds it," Jessica remarked, whilst taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Bet she'll weasel out of it," Rosalie muttered.

"She does seem like the weasley type," I mused, making us all burst into fits of laughter.

"Hah! Ron Weasley!" Bella shouted, and giggled to herself. I stared at her with my mouth open. When she noticed that I was looking at her, she blushed and looked down at her plate.

"Okay," I said, drawing out the syllables. The others just shrugged and went back to eating their lunch.

We were just clearing away our plates when we heard the doors open and one of the deputies walked in to announce that an assembly was being called. We all exchanged quick glances as we made our way to the assembly hall. We all knew that it was about the key going missing.

As we entered, all the teachers, including Esme, were already waiting at the front of the hall. We all took our usual seats, and waited for Esme to begin.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why an assembly has been called. I'm sure you are also wondering why it is the bells did not go off today at lunch. It is a great annoyance to have to tell you that the key that controls the bells has gone missing."

I froze as her eyes landed on me for just a second before she carried on.

"I would like you all to keep your eyes peeled when walking around the school in case you-" Suddenly, Maria raised her hand, and Esme stopped midsentence. I could tell the four girls beside me all held their breath along with me.

"Miss Platt, just as I was going to lunch, I found this key by the door. I didn't know whom it belonged to. I was going to hand it in to lost property," Maria told the whole room. I gritted my teeth. She was speaking like she was the fucking saviour of the day.

"Thank you, Maria. You may add ten credit points to the system," Esme told her, whilst retrieving the key. Ten fucking credits! _This shit had totally backfired_, were my terse thoughts.

Esme dismissed us all soon after that, and I made my way back to the dorm. I wasn't in the mood to see Maria's smug ass face any more than necessary. When I got to the door, I forced it open, making it slam against the wall. It almost hit Jessica in the face as she followed me in.

"This is fucking ridiculous!" I screeched as I kicked my shoes across the room. One hit the bed frame, while the other skidded beneath it.

"Esme _knows_ I took it from her room. She looked at me when she said it, for Christ sakes!" I stomped my feet on the floor like a child, and growled angrily. I wanted to punch something.

I flung myself onto my bed, and swore a couple of times as I buried my head in my pillow, screaming into the material. Overreaction would be an understatement, but frankly, I didn't especially give a shit.

"Finding it in the bloody lunch hall. What a load of shit," I seethed. "She wasn't even IN there!"

"Look, Alice, maybe Esme doesn't want to expel you?" Bella said, from where she sat across the room from me. In any other situation, I would have found them keeping their distance from me more than funny.

"Why wouldn't she?" I growled.

"Maybe she doesn't want you to go?" she offered. "I know I don't."

I smiled feebly at her, and laid back on my bed, feeling placated. I wanted to go home, but I knew when I did, I was going to miss these four girls terribly. They were fast becoming my best friends.

I closed my eyes, and pretended to sleep, as I tried to think of a new plan to get myself expelled. I wasn't really listening to what the others were saying, until I heard something of interest.

Angela and Jessica had been talking about one of the latest rumours going around about our P.E teacher, Kate, and our history teacher, Garrett, were getting it on.

I didn't think much of it, until I remembered when one of the guys in my class back home made pictures of two teachers who were seeing each other in secret. His name was Felix. He was one of Emmett's friends. I even think Emmett was in on it.

With a grin plastered on my face, I sat up, and looked over at Angela and Jessica. I clicked my finger once and pointed at her. "You're a friggin' genius."

"Thanks, but…what did I do?" Angela asked, looking dubiously at Jessica.

"You've given me the next step in my plan" – I quickly glanced at Rosalie, who had put down the magazine she was reading - "I'm going to out Kate and Garrett."

"How are you going to do that?"Jessica asked, sounding excited. "Are you going to spread the rumour further?"

"All will be revealed soon," I told her as I got up from the bed. "But, first, I will need to borrow your camera equipment, Angela. Rosalie, could you come with me? I will need your cell, too."

Rosalie hopped off her bed and retrieved her cell from its hiding place, before coming to stand next to me. As soon as Angela passed me her camera, we left the room.

"So, what's the plan?" Rosalie demanded as soon as we were outside.

I grinned at her. "Well, first, I will need to get a photo of both Kate and Garrett. Then we will go to the computer room."

She still looked confused, but she didn't question me any more. Rosalie told me to go look in the staff room, first as usually that was where they hung out.

"Wait here," I told her as we stood round the corner from the staff room.

Her brow furrowed. "Why?"

"I don't want to be responsible for you getting shit when I'm blamed for this. I'm the one who wants to be expelled, not you, as well." She mulled it over for a second, but agreed.

With her waiting around the corner and out of sight, I knocked on the door to the staff room. The French teacher, called Irina, answered the door.

"What can I do for you?" she asked kindly.

I smiled at her sweetly. "I was looking for my history teacher, Garrett."

"Of course, I will just get him,"she said, before turning back into the room and calling for Garrett. He came out a minute later with a soft smile on his face.

"Alice!" he exclaimed when he saw me. "How can I help?"

"Well, I was wondering whether I could have a picture of you. You see, I'm doing this project on my favourite teachers, and I would like to have pictures with it, too." I smiled sweetly at him again as he blushed slightly.

"Of course, Alice," he said, and I quickly took the photo. I thanked him, and turned back towards the corridor where I found Rosalie waiting for me.

"God, I almost feel bad about doing this," I told her with a grim expression.

"Are you gonna back out of it?" she asked curiously.

I snorted. "Like hell I am."

We linked arms as we went off to the gym department, where I found Kate sitting in the office with Zafrina. I fed her the same crap about the project, and she willingly allowed me to take a photo.

"So, what do we do now?" Rosalie asked, as we made our way towards the computer room.

"I need one more picture from the net, then we will send them to Emmett, and he will sort it out then," I told her as I opened the door to the computer room.

I quickly logged into the computer and opened up Google images. Rosalie gaped at me when she saw what I typed into the search box.

"Oh my God, you are not photoshopping them in that picture, are you?" she asked, as a fresh bout of giggles escaped from the both of us. All I could do was nod, as we both fell about laughing.

"A few years back, there was this rumour about these two teachers. They were Egyptian, called Amun and Kebe, or something. Weird names, right? Anyway, one of Emmett's mates, called Felix, made these pictures and posted them everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean _everywhere_. You name a room, and there would have been one of these pictures stuck to the wall. Our principal, Mr Eleazar, went absolutely _mental_. Felix got suspended for like two weeks because of it."

When I finished, I chuckled to myself as I remembered getting shown one of the pictures before school. Felix was a fucking _legend_ when he came back, must to the teacher's utmost annoyance.

"You know that I want this to work for you, but then again, I don't," Rosalie said. She only looked up at me once she'd finished. I smiled weakly at her, and looked down at my lap. Rosalie was fast becoming one of my best friends _anywhere_, and I didn't want to lose her.

At that thought, I grabbed the camera from the table and grinned at her. "I want a photo!"

We posed for a few photos before setting up the camera and uploading them onto the computer. I attached the photos of Kate and Garrett, with the one from the net, into a new email I'd opened, and then after a second, I attached the best photo of Rosalie and me, as well.

She raised her eyebrow questionably. I shrugged. "Emmett wants to know what you look like," I told her simply. She smiled widely at that, and I chose not to comment on it. Instead, I wrote a small note in the subject box and sent it off. I turned to Rosalie, and smiled cunningly.

"This is where I need to borrow your cell," I told her. She took the cell from her pocket and handed it to me. I looked down at my watch. It was four twenty five, and if I guessed correctly, it would be just after nine in the morning for Emmett. I dialled his number, knowing that he went for an early morning jog on Saturday. He would be up.

"Hello?" Emmett's voice called through the phone. I smiled to myself at the sound of his voice. I missed it.

"Hey, Emm."

"_Pix_? It's been too fucking long since I last heard your voice!"

I saw Rosalie look at me strangely. I bet she could hear every single word coming out his mouth.

I smirked. "Dial it down a bit, Emm. I need a _massive_ favour."

He chuckled. "Well, there I was thinking you're calling me because you've missed me."

"You know I miss you, Emmett. Now quit pouting like a little girl and go open your emails." I sniggered to myself as I heard him mutter something about not pouting.

After a minute of hearing the sounds of Emmett clicking on a mouse, he finally loaded up the email. "What am I meant to be looking for?"

"There are some pictures in there that I want that dirty bastard of a friend of yours to make a manip out of."

People outside would of heard his roaring laughter. "Felix, right?"

"Just the guy. I want them as soon as possible, got it?"

I heard him downloading the pictures, and his laughter as he opened the picture I'd gotten from the net. "I don't know what dirty shit you've got yourself involved in, Pix, but I like it."

Rosalie chuckled beside me as he finished speaking. I gave her a look, as if to say _this is the kind of best friend I have_. I hadn't realised it had gone silent on the other line. It was something that Emmett very rarely did.

"Emm?" I asked cautiously. It was hardly the time to lose signal.

"Who's that in the picture with you?" he asked almost breathless.

I turned to face Rosalie as I spoke. "That's Rosalie, why?"

It was silent again. "Shit." He breathed out heavily. "She's beautiful."

My eyes widened as he finished, I was about to say something, but he beat me to it, by saying, "I mean she's hot." However, it was out, he had called her beautiful, and I wasn't going to let him off so easily.

"I said you'd like her," I said, as I looked at Rosalie, who blushed and looked down at her lap. But she was smiling wider than a Cheshire cat, and I knew there was something more to this than met the eye.

"And Emmett," – I turned away from Rosalie – "we are _SO_ talking about _that_ later."

He groaned quietly. "Fine, I'm gonna head out, anyway. I'll call round Felix's, and get him to work on the picture for you."

"Thank you, Emmett. When the picture is ready, just email it to me, and message me back on this number when you've sent it. Oh, and by the way, I'm using Rosalie's cell."

He agreed and we said our goodbyes. When I handed the phone back to Rosalie, I grinned at her triumphantly.

"The plan is in motion,"I informed her. She gave me thumbs up, and helped me clear away our things, before logging off the computer. Now all we had to do was wait for Emmett to get back to us, letting us know that we could carry out the next stop in our brilliant plan.

* * *

**A/N****: Let me know what you thought! I love Emmett.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N****: Chapter 5!**

**Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, or alerted. ****Sorry for the wait, other stuff got on top of me for a while.**

**Unfortunately, Jasper doesn't make an appearance in this chapter, either. How can I write a whole chapter without even mentioning him? Shame on me.**

**Disclaimer****: All I've done is make the characters human. That doesn't make them mine.**

* * *

**Chaoter 5 - Stealth is My Middle Name**

**May 30****th**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

"When do you think your friend will finish the picture?" Jessica asked, whilst swirling spaghetti round her fork.

I mulled it over for a second, whilst pushing my food around the plate. "Soon, I hope. I really don't want to have to wait days to finish this."

We all sat in silence as we finished eating out dinner. It was strange, experiencing dinner in silence. We were never _this_ quiet. Especially Bella, she seemed extra quiet, and I couldn't quite understand why, until she pulled me aside while we were walking back to our dorm.

"It doesn't matter if this doesn't work, okay? Maybe it's fate trying to tell you to stay," she said in a small voice. She smiled weakly, and I suddenly realised why she was hesitant to help me. She didn't want me to leave, at all.

I hugged her because I didn't know what else I could say. I was still going through with the plan. But I promised myself that if it didn't work, I wouldn't be angry. She linked her arm in mine as we made our way back to the dorm. Neither of us said anything, we didn't need to.

When we entered our dorm, I went straight for my bed, and collapsed on top of the covers, closing my eyes. A little while later, I felt a dip in the mattress, and I opened my eyes to see Rosalie sitting on the edge of my bed.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," she said hesitantly.

I sat up and leant against the headboard. "What?"

She edged forward on the bed, and played with a tassel on her hooded sweater. Whatever it was she wanted to ask, it must have been hard to formulate into a sentence.

"Well, you know when Emmett opened the pictures, and you told him it was me in that one of us," – she shot a hesitant glance in my direction – "what exactly did he say?"

I tried to hide the massive smile that threatened to form on my face. Luckily, she hadn't looked up at me, yet.

"He said you're beautiful, and he _never_ calls anyone beautiful, not unless he really means," I told her. The smile broke out across her face as she blushed furiously.

"Has he… _you know_, called anyone else beautiful before?"

I was silent for a moment while I thought. "To date, only three people."

She looked up at me, and I could see curiosity burning in her eyes. There was no way I was going to leave her in the lurch, without getting the full answer.

"There was a girl he went out with for almost a year, called Victoria, he said she was beautiful. Then…there was me, and now he's said you're beautiful."

She looked up at me surprised. "You mean you and Emmett were-"

But I interrupted her before she could finish. "No, we weren't together, or anything serious like that. We just fooled around a bit a few years back. Kind of experimenting, you know? But it didn't feel right, at all, so we gave up. No biggie."

I sighed to myself as I looked at Rosalie, she almost seemed relieved. "You know, it's a shame you're not closer, or else I'd totally be playing matchmaker on your ass."

Rosalie giggled, but I could help but notice the look of disappointment in her eyes. Mrs Crawford interrupted us then, as she walked in declaring lights out. I stared at the door incredulously, before glancing back down at my watch. I couldn't believe that it was already nine. Where had the time gone?

I quickly got myself dressed into my pyjamas, and busied myself in the bathroom, before making my way back into the dorm. When I got back, I saw Rosalie tapping away at her cell phone. I went straight to her side.

"Did you get a reply from Emmett?" I asked excitedly.

She grinned and nodded. "He said, and I quote, 'Hey Pix and Rose. Yo don't mind me calling you Rose, right? Anyways, Felix finished the picture, it's the shit. He said he wants credit on this bitch. Emmett'."

I couldn't help but giggle as I listened to Rosalie reading 'Emmett talk' in her English accent. It sounded completely wrong. She smiled at me, and then went back to her cell phone. I wondered, briefly, whether she was sending a message back to Emmett, but that thought passed as I yawned.

I never used to be tired around nine, but here I was yawning away, and it was only nine forty five. I said goodnight to all four girls, and collapsed onto my bed. I didn't hear the others saying their goodnights as I closed my eyes and sunk into dreamless slumber.

* * *

**May 31****st**** 2009**

For once, I was happy to hear the alarm at seven. It meant that I could go carry out my genius plan. _Today should be a good day_, I thought to myself.

We all got up, as usual, and went down for breakfast. Rosalie and I had decided how to carry out the final section of the plan over a bowl of cornflakes. We were going to print the pictures now and place them around school after lights out. I'd told her that I didn't want to get her into trouble, especially if we were caught. But before I could say anything more, she stopped me, and told me she didn't want to miss this.

After we cleared away our breakfast bowls, we separated. Rosalie and I going to the computer room, whilst the rest went out into the school grounds. It was actually sunny, for once, and when we had finished printing off the pictures, we would be joining them.

"How many do you think we should print off?" Rosalie asked, as we neared the computer room.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Do you think thirty are too many?"

"Thirty sounds fine," she replied, with a grin plastered across her face. She seemed to be looking forward to this more than what I was. I just hoped, with whatever power I had, that this didn't backfire on her.

When we pushed the door open, the grins fell from our faces as we saw three first year girls sitting at one of the computers near the front. We both shared cautious glances, and went to sit at one of the computers at the back of the room. It was one of the only ones where people couldn't see the screen. Rosalie went to log in, but I stopped her.

She looked at me strangely. "What?"

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to sign in. "I'm sure this place has printer logs. What do you reckon they will think if they see your name under all these printings?"

She didn't reply.

I opened up hotmail as soon as the primitive computer loaded. I smiled when I found an email, not only from Emmett, but one from Cynthia, as well.

I turned to Rosalie, who was eyeing the first years across the room. "Do you mind if I reply to my sister's email?"

"Of course not, not like we can print anything while that lot are in here," she said, gesturing towards our company.

To: PixieGirl

From: PrincessCullen

Subject: I Miss You :(

Hi Alice! How are you?

I really miss you, Dad misses you, too. It's not the same without you here. It's far too quiet.

How is England? Is it really, _really_ cold? What about your school? Is it nice there? Are the people nice to you?

I can't wait till you come home. Dad doesn't plait my hair as good as you can.

Lots and lots of love, Cynthia XxXxXxX

I smiled to myself as I finished; I really missed my little sister more than anything.

To: PrincessCullen

From: PixieGirl

Subject: RE: I Miss You :(

Hey Cynthia,

It's not all bad in England, and not too cold. Although, you know me, I do love the sun. The school is good, and yes, everyone's nice to me. I've made a couple of good friends already.

I miss you, too, honey. I hate that I have to be away from you. Especially with dad plaiting your hair! I can just imagine what they must look like! Don't worry, Cyn, I'll be back soon.

Love you,

Alice _x _

Once I clicked send, I realised that in the time that I was writing my email, the three girls had left the room. Finally, we were alone.

"How old is your sister?"Rosalie asked when she noticed that I had finished.

"She's eleven," I answered, smiling to myself. "What about you? Have you got any brothers or sisters?"

"Oh, yeah, two little brothers called Henry and Jonathon. They are little monkeys," she said with a small chuckle.

"I can just imagine," I replied with a smile. "How old are they?"

"Six."

I laughed, and shook my head in amusement. "Yep, I can definitely imagine those two."

We were still chuckling as I opened the email from Emmett. I read the short message he left, basically telling me what he'd said in the message to Rosalie's cell. We both leant forward in anticipation as we waited for the image to download. I didn't have a clue what this picture would turn out like. All I knew was that it wasn't going to disappoint.

"Holy shit," Rosalie said when the picture finally loaded. We both stared at it in silence, before slowly, laughter erupted out of us. The picture was _exactly_ what I was hoping for. No, more than what I was hoping for, in fact. I would definitely be paying Felix a visit when I got back to the States.

"You will seriously get in the shit for printing this out," Rosalie muttered, as she continued to stare at the picture. "But, you'll be a total legend."

"Well, that is an added bonus," I said, as a slight giggle escaped my lips. I quickly typed out a reply message to Emmett, while Rosalie waited patiently by my side. I had just clicked send when Rosalie began to talk.

"Alice," she began, in an almost cautious voice. "I was wondering…do you have a…_picture_…of Emmett?"

The grin that formed on my face actually hurt my cheeks a little bit. "Of course I have a picture of him. You wanna see one?"

She blushed when she saw the look on my face. She knew what I was hinting at. She knew that _I _knew she wanted to check him out.

The grin grew wider on my face when she nodded, if that were possible. I told her to wait while I clicked on various links, until I found my windows live image gallery. I thanked the gods up above that I had decided to use this facility at one point.

I knew there were a lot of pictures of Emmett, but there was one of the both of us at the beach. If Rosalie wanted to check him out, then this was the one that would make her jaw fall open.

I bit my lip to hold back the giggle as I opened the image so that it was full screen. I heard her sharp intake of breath as she stared at the picture with wide eyes. As predicted, her mouth was wide open.

"_That's_ Emmett?" she cried in disbelief. Her mouth was still hanging open, even when she'd finished speaking. I swear she was drooling a little bit.

"Yep," I replied, grinning. "That's Emmett."

"Jesus _Christ_, Alice, how do you keep your hands off him?" she demanded, without taking her eyes off the screen.

I smirked. "Quite easily, actually. But, I guess that's because I grew up with him. I know what he's like. Plus, he's like my brother…"

"Well, shit, Alice. The guy you see as your brother is _damn_ fine," she mused with a smile on her face. "Just look at that body, though. You were right _there _with him, Alice. I don't care if he's like a brother to you…just look at his abs for God sakes!"

I pretended to fan her with my hands. She blushed again, and finally looked away from the computer screen.

"You can't tell him," she said after a second.

"What?"

"You can't tell Emmett what I just said," she continued. She looked almost worried now, as if she'd just been caught by Emmett himself.

I groaned. "Oh, don't be a killjoy, Rose. Emmett's ego will soar through the roof if he hears what you said about him. Then he'll turn the Emmett charm onto full notch like that."

I clicked my fingers as I spoke.

She seemed to think it over a moment, and I thought she was about to agree to telling him, but she shook her head.

"No, Alice. Please don't tell him. It's not like we are going to meet, and it'll be a waste telling him like that. I don't think I could handle him putting his charm on me without actually getting to meet him in the end."

"Okay," I mumbled in a sad voice. "You have no idea how much I wish you two were closer together."

She sighed. "I wish we were, too."

It was silent for a moment as we thought about the possibility of Emmett and Rosalie getting together. They would be a totally hot couple, and it was a damn shame that they were living across the world from each other.

"Come on, let's print this picture off before someone comes in," Rosalie said, breaking the brief silence that had fallen over us.

I nodded and clicked print on the computer. Rosalie went to stand by the printer whilst all thirty pictures were printed. We were both slightly anxious as we waited for them to print. The last thing we needed was for someone to walk in and see the picture before they were meant to.

But, thankfully, no one came in, and we were able to hide the pictures underneath our shirt as we walked back towards our dorm room.

Bella, Jessica and Angela looked up at us in anticipation as we walked over to where they'd been sitting outside. We both grinned at them as we pulled out one of the copies we'd brought out to show them. Their reactions were much the same as Rosalie's.

"When will you be putting these pictures up?" Angela asked, verbalising the question that had been on all their minds.

I thought about it for only a second. "Tonight, hopefully. Now that I have the pictures I really don't want to wait."

"Do you want us to help?" Bella asked.

But I shook my head. "Not all of you, at least. Unless you really want to. There are only thirty pictures here. Just two of us would be fine, or three of us. Its up to you guys, but Rosalie's already said she'd help me. If she still wants to help me after seeing the pictures."

"Of course I still want to help you," Rosalie said immediately. A devious grin spread across her face as she spoke.

"I want to help," Jessica said straight after her. I nodded, and turned to look at Angela and Bella. They both shrugged, and said that they didn't mind staying in the dorm.

So it was decided, Jessica, Rosalie and I were going to go out once everyone would be asleep, and distribute the pictures around the school.

Tonight was going to be epic.

* * *

"So, where are you going to put your ten?" Jessica asked as we waited for everyone to fall asleep.

I shrugged. "I don't know, really. But we need to work something out so that we don't put two pictures in the same place. We're going for maximum effect here, as normal, and so I want nearly everyone to see one of these pictures before the get pulled down."

"How about I go down to the far end of the school, you go out to the middle and Jessica does around the dorm area?" Rosalie said, looking between us both, waiting for a response. "I don't mind going the furthest; I know that area better than you do, Alice, and I doubt you want to stay around the dorms?"

We both agreed and thought about the areas we had been assigned to. The middle of the school was mainly the dining hall and the assembly room. But there were a couple of classrooms around there, too. Including Esme's office. I smiled in anticipation at the thought of hanging one on Esme's door.

Bella was keeping an eye on the time, so that we knew when we were meant to go. Finally, it was just after eleven at night, and we pulled on a pair of shoes and grabbed our pictures from underneath our mattresses.

"Good luck, you three," Angela muttered as she watched us from her bed.

"Yeah, and _don't_ get caught," Bella added in a serious voice.

"Stealth is my middle name," I told them both as I winked at Bella. She smiled and rolled her eyes before shooing us outside. Jessica split up with us immediately, leaving me and Rosalie to make our way through the quiet school.

I said goodbye to Rosalie once we reached the dining hall. I watched her continue down the dark corridor before turning towards the dining hall entrance. I slowly pulled the door open and snuck inside the dark room. I hung one picture up on the far wall next to where the food was served, and then left one on the door before leaving the room.

I then went and hung some on a couple of the classroom doors and toilets. I giggled to myself as I passed by Esme's office. I quickly hung one on the door before skipping away, but as I passed the receptionists desk, I decided to leave her a surprise for tomorrow morning, as well.

I only had three left, which meant I had to choose my locations wisely. I made my way towards the assembly room, knowing that I hadn't put any in there yet. I hung one on the main podium, before leaving one pinned to one of the walls. I stifled another giggle as I thought about Esme coming in here to do an assembly only to find another picture in front of her, too.

I was trying to work out where to hang the last picture when an idea popped into my mind. The staffroom. I grinned manically as I jogged towards the staffroom. That one would be better than the one I stuck on Esme's door.

Thankfully, the door to the staffroom was unlocked, and I slipped inside. I glanced around the dark room, not daring to switch the lights on. The room was small, and I wanted to hide it somewhere that wouldn't be found straight away.

My eyes landed on the fridge just as the idea floated into my mind. I hopped over to it, and placed the final picture in between the milk and butter. Whoever found that tomorrow would be in for such a surprise.

I was about to leave the room when I heard someone's footsteps outside. I froze to the spot as the footsteps got closer. I had a brief thought that it was Rosalie on her way back, but straight away I knew that it wouldn't be her. She'd never make that much noise.

Without thinking, I jumped behind the couch, just as the door opened and someone walked. I sucked in my breath, suddenly feeling too scared to even breathe in case they heard me. I closed my eyes when the blinding light turned on.

I inched out from behind the couch as they stepped further into the room. Curiosity seemed to get the better of me, making me want to know which teacher it was. I don't know why I did it, considering we all knew what curiosity did to the cat.

I bit my lip when I realised that it was none other than Garrett himself. Of all the people it could be, it had to be _him_. But what the hell was he doing in here now? Didn't he go home at the end of the day? Why did he stay at school after hours? For a good looking guy, he was such a loser.

But, the thoughts were wiped from my mind as he grabbed something from the cupboard and placed it on the table. My whole body froze and went cold as he turned back and reached for the fridge door.

He was going to find the picture.

* * *

**A/N****: Will she get caught? You'll find out in the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N****: Chapter 6!**

**Thank you to those who took the time to read my story. It means a lot.**

**Disclaimer****: The only conciliation I have is that, even though Stephenie Meyer owns Jasper, he isn't real. This means she doesn't get to **_**have**_** him, either. Damn it…Jackson Rathbone!**

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Admire the View**

**May 31****st**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

My heart pounded painfully in my chest as his hands wrapped around the handle of the fridge door. _Holy crap, I need to get out of here,_ I thought to myself as I looked towards the door. Could I get to the door without him noticing?

However, as that thought came into my mind, the door opened yet again. I froze, and pressed myself against the back of the couch. I didn't see who had walked in, but when she started to speak my mouth fell open at the sheer unluckiness of what was happening to me.

"Come on, Garrett, why are you taking so long?" Kate murmured softly. "My bed's getting cold without you in it."

My eyes widened at what she'd just said. Her _bed_? Jesus Christ. They really _were_ getting it on.

"I'm sorry, Katy, baby, I was just getting something to eat," he said, purring slightly.

I heard someone moving around the room. "I've got something you can eat," she hummed seductively.

I silently gagged and scrunched my eyes together. This was going to be mentally scarring. How was I going to sit in her class now, after hearing her say something like _that_?

Garrett groaned. "Stop teasing me, baby."

I shuddered as Kate giggled. "Oh, I'm not teasing you, Garrett. How about you come back to my room, and I'll show you just how serious I am?"

There was shuffling, as well as someone opening and closing a cupboard. A second later, I saw Garrett pulling Kate towards the door. I didn't move, even when the lights were flipped off and the door was closed.

I was completely frozen to the spot. I did _not _just witness that. I shuddered once again as I counted to sixty before slowly edging out from behind the couch. I couldn't hear anyone outside, and so I quickly slipped outside and started running full pelt back to the dorm room. I _had _to tell them what I'd just observed.

Rosalie and Jessica were both sitting in bed when I walked in. As soon as they saw me, they scrambled across their beds with worried expressions spread over their faces.

"Where have you _been_?" Rosalie demanded in a hushed voice. "We were thinking of going out and looking for you!"

"Yeah," Jessica agreed, nodding. "We thought you had gotten lost in the dark, or something!"

I shook my head at them, and collapsed down onto my bed. "You would not _believe_ what just happened to me."

"What?" they all demanded in a simultaneous manner.

"Well, I was putting all the pictures around the middle of the school, and then I got this idea to put one of them in the staffroom."

"Nice," Jessica mused, with a smirk on her face.

"I know, right? Anyway, I went in there and put the picture in the fridge, so that it wouldn't be found straight away. But just as I was about to leave, I heard someone outside."

"Oh my God," Bella said breathlessly.

I nodded and gave her a knowing look. "It was _Garrett_."

Four pairs of eyes widened at me. There was a muttering of curses and oh my gods as I rubbed my hands over my face.

"I jumped behind the couch just as he stepped into the room. I was completely spazzing out, thinking that he was going to find me. Then he goes and reaches for the fucking fridge! I thought I was going to have a heart attack when he did that!"

"He didn't find it, did he?" Angela asked; her eyes still wide.

I shook my head. "Kate walked in," I told them in a disgusted tone. "They started…talking."

The expressions on their faces turned half amused, half shocked as I finished. Bella signalled with her hand for me to carry on.

"It was _awful_," I groaned, before throwing myself back onto my pillows. "She asked him why he was taking so long, and so he told her he was getting something to eat."

I didn't want to continue. But I knew I had to. "Kate told him that she… she had something he could eat."

They all groaned and made disgusted noises. I couldn't help but laugh over the disgust I was currently feeling. Rosalie started giggling manically, setting off everyone else.

"I can't _believe_ she said that!" Rosalie said, gasping for breath. "What did you do?"

"I nearly threw up," I replied, laughing. "I swear Garrett will be eating her out as we speak. This is seriously going to scar us all."

"That is disgusting," Angela muttered, her expression making it look as if she wanted to be sick herself. "How the hell are we going to be able to look at them in lesson now, without remembering this?"

"I'm going to be dreading those lessons for the rest of the year now," Bella told us, and we all burst out laughing.

* * *

**June 1****st**** 2009**

The next morning, _everyone _was talking about the pictures. If they didn't see them, they sure as hell heard about them. By the time we were going for breakfast, everyone had heard about them, and by the time the bell rang, signalling our first class, the majority of the pictures had been taken down.

Kate and Garrett didn't turn up for breakfast, thankfully, but that meant they knew about them, which meant they had told Esme who had taken those pictures. To say I wasn't anticipating a furious Esme to come storming around the corner any minute would be a lie.

The rest of my roommates were on edge, and I could tell it was because of their participation in the act. Not only that, but our first class of the day was gym, and Kate was one of our teachers. _Would she turn up_? For sure, she wouldn't show her face.

"What do you think Esme will do?" Angela asked me as we made our way to the changing rooms.

"I really don't know," I replied honestly. "This could go so many different ways right now."

"She was there at breakfast, though, she could easily have dragged you off to her office at any time," Rosalie commented.

I pursed my lips as Jessica said, "Maybe they didn't tell Esme yet? They could be hiding out in their room due to sheer mortification."

"I'd leave the school," Rosalie said, pulling a face.

Bella giggled. "Me too, I'd die of embarrassment if it were me."

"Well, don't let anyone take a picture of you or Edward, then," Jessica said, teasing her.

"Wait, what?" I said, totally confused. "Who is Edward?"

Bella blushed, and looked down at the ground, with a coy smile on her lips. "He's my boyfriend."

"Oh my God!" I cried. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend! What is he like? Is he cute? Is he tall? Tell me!"

She blushed even further, as if the sudden attention on her boyfriend embarrassed her.

"He's tall, with green eyes and bronze coloured hair, and yeah," she said, smiling widely. "He's cute."

Rosalie snorted. "Is that the biggest understatement of the century, or what? He is _more_ than just cute. This guy has the whole smart, geeky hotness going on, any girl would want him."

"Hey," Bella murmured. "Not every girl wants him, you guys don't."

Jessica grinned. "That's what you think."

I laughed out loud at the shocked expression on Bella's face.

"I'm messing with you, Bella, you know Mike's the guy for me," she continued, and I could hear the truth in her voice.

I held up my hands, stopping them all. "Stop, all of you," I said, and then turned to Jessica. "_Mike_? How do I not know about these guys already? Am I the only one who doesn't have a boyfriend around here?"

"I haven't," Rosalie said curtly, and straight away I sensed the hint of anger in her voice. There was something there, I was certain of it. "But, Angela does, his name is Ben."

I knew she was moving on quickly, taking the limelight from herself. I wanted to question her, when from down the end of the corridor, I heard someone calling my name.

We all froze at the sound of Esme's voice.

"Shit," I whispered as I took in each of their shocked expressions.

"Alice Cullen, I would like to speak with you in my office, this instant," Esme commanded from right behind me. I turned around slowly and looked at her. She looked fucking _pissed _at me. Her jaw was tight, and her eyes were hard as they stared at me, very different from what they usually were.

She signalled for the others to move along, before leading me back towards her office. In a way, I was grateful that I didn't have to go to my first class, but it honestly felt like the walk of death as I followed her. When we arrived at the office, she told me to sit down, which I did without question. I'd been expecting this, I wanted it, but I still going help but feel slightly scared about what was going to happen.

A second later, she slammed her hand down on the table, or more precisely, she slammed the _picture _down on the table. I froze, even though I was expecting her to produce the picture at some point.

"Do you see this as some kind of joke?" she asked in a brusque voice.

When I didn't answer her, she continued. "I don't know what you are trying to do, Alice, but posting these pictures around the school is going to put you on the fast track to being expelled."

Maybe I perked up a little bit at the mention of being expelled, maybe she saw something in my eyes, or maybe it was just something in the fucking air. Whatever it was, she twigged what I was trying to do seconds later. She seemed taken aback as she sat down in her chair and stared at me for a long moment, looking angry, but bewildered.

"You're trying to get expelled, aren't you?" she asked in disbelief. I still didn't give her an answer, which pushed her to the edge. "God dammit, Alice, answer me! Are you really that adamant about going home?"

I crossed my arms in front of me. "Yes, I'm that adamant. I don't want to be here, Esme, and the only reason I haven't been worse so far is because of my roommates."

She huffed angrily and shook her head as if she couldn't believe this was happening. "Well, I'm sorry, Alice, but it's not the case of me just expelling you here and now. There is a process that needs to be followed, paperwork that needs to be filled out."

I sat up straighter at the sudden turn in her words. "You mean you're going to expel me?"

However, she shook her head, and I sat back in my chair once again. "No, I'm not going to expel you. I promised your father that I would keep you in line, but you're making this very hard for me to keep that promise."

"You don't have to keep that promise, though," I shot back, trying to convince her, even though I knew already that it was pointless.

"Why do you want to leave so badly?" she asked, after she pursed her lips at my previous response. "What is so horrible about this school that makes you want to leave?"

I stared at her for a long moment, choosing my words. "There isn't anything wrong with this school. It's just not the school I want to be in. I want to be in the school back home, I want to be in a class with the people I'm used to, not the ones here."

She nodded, as if she understood. "By the rate you're going, you'll get your wish. I don't know you're going to try next, Alice, but I seriously suggest you forget anything you have planned. Your report is already full, what with posting indecent pictures around the school, and stealing property. If you keep adding to it, then you'll be in too deep to turn things around."

I wanted to retort and say _what if I didn't want to turn things around_? But there were more pressing things I wanted to question.

"Stealing property?" I asked, poorly masking the shocked tone in my voice.

"Yes, stealing the keys that activated the school bells. You think I didn't know it was you? Maria says she found it by the lunch hall. Where did you really put it, Alice?"

I was silent for a moment. I knew this was just bait. She wanted me to own up to it. In any other situation, I'd probably have claimed innocence by now. But I hadn't, and I wasn't planning on doing that, either. "I put it in her pocket."

Esme pursed her lips, and exhaled slowly through her nose. "I'm absolutely _appalled_ by your behaviour. Not only are you trying to get yourself expelled, but you're also trying to pin the blame on someone else, too. I'm _really_ not impressed with you, Alice. Count yourself on your last warning. One more problem from you and you can mark my words; you'll be out of this school for good!"

I was slightly taken aback by her outburst. I'd never seen her so angry before. I'd really wound her up this time, I could tell. However, I pushed that thought aside as I realised that I should be happy. She had said that one more thing wrong, and then I would be out of here, and that was what I wanted, right?

"I think its best if you get out of my sight. I do not wish to see you in here again without request!" she exclaimed as she signalled towards the door. I was tempted to say to her that she would undoubtedly be seeing me again, but I didn't bother. She was pissed off enough as it was, she didn't need me adding to the already blazing fire.

I stood up, and turned away, without saying anything. I stepped outside and exhaled before walking away down the corridor. I wasn't really walking in any particular direction. In fact, I wasn't paying attention at all. That was why I didn't see the person as they walked around the corner, until I bumped right into them and stumbled backwards. Their hands reached out and held onto me before I fell to the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see…" I said, but my voice trailed away as I looked up at the person I'd walked into. Jasper smiled down at me, with his hands still holding onto my upper arms.

"You should really watch where you're going, Alice," he said, making a massive smile spread across my face. He remembered my _name_, from all that time ago, he actually remembered me. I didn't exactly understand why that made me so happy, it just did.

"I guess I should. Sorry, my mind was a bit preoccupied. I'll remember that the next time I'm around people," I replied, a slight teasing tone to my voice. It wasn't really a lie, saying that my mind was preoccupied. However, the last part, that was just me talking for the sake of talking. I think it was because I wanted to hear his voice again, but when he merely nodded in response, I knew I had to say something else.

"So, why are you here on a Monday?" I asked, looking up at him eagerly. "Do you come here often?"

His smile grew wider, as if my question had made him happy. "I'm actually visiting my mum; my lessons were cancelled today. Also, I haven't seen her in like a fortnight, and to answer your other question, no, I'm not here often. However, I try to be, even if it is merely just to admire the view."

I felt my mouth open slightly as he finished. I couldn't drag my eyes away from his lips as one corner turned upwards into that gorgeous lopsided smirk of his.

"Admire the view, huh?" I murmured, smirking back at him confidently. "Seen anything you like?"

He stared at me, not answering. His eyes were smouldering, and I had to remind myself to breathe in and out.

"The view's looking pretty good from where I'm standing," he said, his voice barely a whisper. My heart skipped a beat at his words, and then suddenly it was beating ten times faster than normal. I was certain that if he tried, he would be able to hear it.

I wanted to say something witty, and come back with a comment that would make him think. However, we were interrupted by the sound of two voices from around the corner. Jasper cussed under his breath, and I heard him whisper _Maria_ just as he looked around.

It seemed as if he was about to make a run for it, as he let his hands drop from my shoulders. But as he did so, he reached for one of my hands. If I said I didn't feel anything when his skin touched mine, it would have been a bigger lie than if someone told me the moon was made of cheese.

"Come on," he whispered, as he started to quickly walk away from the voices, pulling me along with him. I wasn't sure where he was leading me to, until suddenly he stopped, and led me into a small alcove in the wall.

"You don't think she saw us, do you?" he asked, as he peaked out from our hiding space, as if he was hiding from some crazy axe person. I giggled; I couldn't help it. When he saw my reaction, he smiled, and stared at me.

"If she saw us, she would have followed us here," I told him, once I stopped giggling.

"I'm glad she didn't follow us," he said, and for the first time, I realised that this alcove was actually _really_ small, and we were standing extremely close together. Not that I was complaining, or anything, and by the look on his face, neither was he.

"So," he began. "Are you going to the end of year prom?"

His question took me off guard, and I had to ask him to repeat. "You have prom here?"

He laughed heartily. "Yes, Alice, we have prom here, too."

I grimaced momentarily as I realised that I wouldn't have anything to wear. No one told me about going to a prom. Hell, I thought I would be out of here before the end of the year, anyway, but if Jasper was going to the prom, then it made me not want to leave. It made me actually want to go to this prom.

"Will you be going?" I asked, a little _too_ eagerly for my liking, but I couldn't do anything to change the tone in my voice.

"You didn't answer your question."

"Neither did you."

He grinned at our silly little dance. "Of course I'm going, but, I would like to see you there, too."

"Well, then, I guess we'll be seeing each other there," I replied, finding myself unable to stop the smile from spreading right across my face.

"Good," he whispered, and once again, his eyes turned intensely sexy. I wondered if he was going to say something else, when suddenly I saw him shift slightly, and then he was leaning towards me.

My heart started pounding like crazy as I watched him slowly lick his lips. _Sweet Jesus_, I thought to myself, _he's going to kiss me! _I tilted my head upwards, not letting my eyes leave his lips.

He got closer, and I licked my own lips in anticipation. His delicious scent enveloped me as me got even closer, and I tried to work out what it reminded me of, but my mind was clouded. All I could think about, as I closed my eyes, was that he was going to kiss me. Jasper Whitlock was going to kiss me.

"I'll be the one in the suit," he said, in a voice that couldn't even be classed as a whisper. My breath caught as his lips brushed against my skin as he spoke. That single sensation wasn't enough, not by a long shot. "I'll see you there, Baby Doll."

My eyes shot open just as he pulled away from me and walked off. The breath, I hadn't realised I had been holding, gushed out of me in one swoop, as my legs turned to jelly, and I slid down the wall. My whole body slumped onto the floor, and I stared ahead of me, not seeing a damn thing.

_I'll see you there, Baby Doll_.

I shivered delicately as the seductive lilt in his voice rang in my ears. It sounded absolutely perfect, and I couldn't work out whether I should be happy that I heard his voice, or disappointed that he hadn't kissed me.

Either way, there was one thing I knew for certain and that was, one hundred percent, he had complete power over me. If he wanted to, he could do whatever he wished.

* * *

**A/N****: Sweet Jesus, if Jasper did that to me I think I'd cry. Don't worry though as Jasper will be back in the next couple of chapters and you'll see what happens at the prom.**

**Kate and Garrett make me shudder. I adore them, **_**normally...**_


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N****: Chapter 7!**

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed, you made me all so happy!**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Jasper. I just make him call Alice **_**Baby Doll**_**.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Your Turn**

**June 1****st**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

"He called you _Baby Doll?_" Rosalie asked for the thousandth time, and like every time she asked, I merely nodded, still in a daze-like state.

"Oh my God," she murmured, shaking her head in disbelief. "I thought Esme's reaction was bad, but _Jasper _nearly _kissed_ you, and called you _Baby Doll_. That is like…oh my God!"

"I know," I said with a sigh. "I can't believe it. He said he would see me at the prom, too, which means something is going to happen, right?"

When she nodded quickly, an afterthought came to mind. "Actually, how come I haven't heard about this prom before today? Wouldn't you be having, like, prom committees, and voting for who should be prom king and queen?"

They all shared a glance with each other, before Angela shook her head. "We just have the prom, where the boy's school meets up with our school for one night to…_socialise_."

"Oh right," I said before drifting into my thoughts again. "Does that mean I get to meet your boyfriends?"

Three heads nodded at me, and that was when I remembered about Rosalie's response earlier. I still wanted to talk to her about it, and now was a better time as any. I got up from my bed, and went to put on some shoes.

"I wanna go check my emails. Rosalie, do you want to come with me in case Emmett has said anything to you?" I said, hoping she'd say yes. She nodded, seemingly excited about the prospect, and went to put some shoes on.

We said goodbye to the others and started walking out of the dormitory area, but when I led her outside, she frowned.

"Where are we going?" she asked, totally confused.

I sighed and told her to sit down me on a small bank of grass. "I don't need to check my mail, Rosalie. I'm sorry, but it was the only way I could think to get you alone."

Her eyes were cautious as she nodded. "So, what did you want to talk about that you couldn't say in front of everyone else?"

"Look, I'll totally understand if you don't want to talk about it, but earlier, when I asked if anyone else has a boyfriend, you gave me the impression that something happened…"

"…and you want to know what it is," she said, finishing my sentence for me. I suddenly felt bad for intruding, and I was about to tell her to forget it, when she started to speak. It wasn't my place to pry into her personal thing, but I couldn't help but absorb what she was about to tell me.

"I did have a boyfriend, at the start of the year," she told me in a quiet, distant voice. "His name was Royce King, and he was exactly what I thought I wanted in a guy. He was sweet, he treated me how I wanted to be treated, and he…he was gorgeous."

I nodded, knowing there was a '_but'_ in this story. I didn't say anything, and instead, waited for her to continue on her own.

"I got to know him at the prom last year. I'd seen him before, but never talked to him. Anyway, he asked me out a couple of weeks later, and everything was great, you know, it was summer, I was sixteen, and he was perfect…at the time. But then when we started going back to school, he saw all his old mates again, and he started asking me to sneak out of school to come see him. I did it a couple of times, and I never got caught. Except, the last time I went out, he tried to…"

Her voice trailed away and I saw her eyes fill with tears. I reached out and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, comforting her.

"You don't have to tell me," I whispered. I could hear the tremor in my voice, I didn't know what he did to her, but I was thinking the worst.

She shook her head and wiped at her eyes. "No, Alice, it's okay. I always get like this when I think about it, that's all. It's not even that bad, compared to some things, it's just…"

"Don't be stupid, if it's making you like this, then I doubt that it's _not that bad_. Like I said, you don't have to say anything else."

She gave me a watery smile, but shook her head once again. "When I got to our meeting place, he told me that he wanted me to have sex with him. I had been foolish enough to think that he hadn't been with any girls like that before me. I was wrong, of course. I told him no, but he kept telling me that if I didn't, then he would tell all his friends at school that I was a frigid bitch."

"That fucking bastard," I muttered as I squeezed her shoulder. She let out a quick laugh and nodded in agreement.

"I told him that I would rather be called that than giving up my virginity to him that day. He got angry, obviously, and I ended up kneeing him in the bollocks and running away."

I frowned. "Bollocks?"

She giggled quietly. "It's just another name for his man parts."

I laughed out loud, which she joined in with. "Ride on, girlfriend," I murmured, making us both laugh louder.

As we stopped laughing, Rosalie went sombre once again. "I haven't seen him since then, the next time I'll see him is at the prom."

"Well, that jerk better have eyes in the back of his head because I'm going to have a baseball bat stashed under my dress, and maybe a brick in my purse," I muttered, feeling the anger towards him growing.

Then as an afterthought, I added, "Although, that might be a bit of a problem, considering I don't actually have a dress to wear."

I frowned, wondering whether I would have to get one of my old prom dresses flown over from America. It would take time, and I wasn't sure whether my father would agree to it, anyway. It was a lot of hassle for just one dress.

"That's alright, as none of us have dresses yet, either. We always buy them the weekend before the prom. It's kind of like a tradition for us. So providing you have enough money, you'll be able to get one this Saturday."

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that I had by far enough money with me to buy myself a decent dress. "That has made me feel so much better. I really want to get a good dress so that Jasper notices me."

She gave me a knowing smile. "Trust me, Alice, Jasper noticed you when you were wearing your uniform, so you'll definitely be noticed in a dress."

I grinned. "You really think so?" When she nodded, the grin grew wider. I was about to continue, when Rosalie giggled.

"Speak of the devil," she murmured before nodding towards the entrance. My heart seemed to beat a little bit faster at the sight of him, and I felt a smile creep its way onto my face.

"Call him over here," Rosalie whispered.

"What? No!"

"Go on, Alice, call him over here!" she insisted, nudging my shoulder as she spoke. "I bet he wants to see you. Call him."

"No!"

"Fine, if that's how you want to play things," she said, muttering slightly, before she looked over in Jasper's direction. "HEY!"

I froze and looked from Jasper, to Rosalie, then back to Jasper again. Rosalie was absolutely _crazy_. But I couldn't do anything as Jasper turned in our direction. Despite the way his attention had been caught, I couldn't help but feel the fluttering in my stomach as our eyes met. Even though there was a great distance between us, I could still see the smile that formed on his face.

My heart did a crazy little summersault in my chest as I watched him make his way towards us. I didn't look back at Rosalie, but I knew that she would have been grinning and giving me a look that said _I told you so_.

"Hello, ladies," Jasper murmured as soon as he was close enough, nodding his head at the both of us. Though he might have been directing his greeting at Rosalie, he didn't take his eyes off me.

"So, Jasper, do you think you could stay here and keep Alice company, while I go…check my mail?" Rosalie asked, standing up. I dragged my eyes away from Jasper to look at her in total incredulity. She was using the same excuse I'd used when I wanted to get her on her own.

"Sure," Jasper said simply as Rosalie smiled and walked away. However, as soon as she was behind Jasper, she turned to look at me and winked. I couldn't help but laugh. She was the most transparent person ever sometimes.

It was silent for a moment as Jasper came to sit down next to me. I noted that he sat closer than necessary, but I really wasn't one to complain. The closeness between us was something to revel upon.

"Twice in one day, Mr Whitlock, anyone would think you were stalking me," I said, smirking at him.

He laughed, and immediately I wanted to hear that sound again. "I think you'll find it was _you _that walked into _me_,earlier."

"How could I forget?" I said, meeting his eyes. "Especially after what happened right before you walked away. You do realise that was wholly unfair of you to do that, right?"

The corner of his mouth turned upwards, and I got a glimpse of his perfectly straight teeth. Even they were perfect. Was there really nothing bad about him? _Focus, Alice, and not on his teeth,_ I thought to myself.

"I would like to say that I regret doing that, but, I don't," he murmured, his voice deeper and a hell of a lot sexier than before. "However, there is one thing I regret."

I found myself leaning closer, wanting to find out what he regretted. It was like something was pulling me in, and I had no power to stop it, even if I wanted to. I guess he liked leaving me in suspense, as he didn't continue.

"What?" I asked in a breathless whisper. "What do you regret?"

He leaned closer, as well, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear, even though we were the only soul here right now.

He licked his bottom lip, with what seemed like a deliciously long, pointy tongue, before whispering, "I regret that I didn't get to kiss you."

I think I stopped breathing, or my heart stopped beating. Either way, _something_ stopped the moment his words sunk in.

"You want to kiss me?" I murmured, not really knowing if it was meant as a question, or merely me speaking my thoughts aloud. What I did know, was that I regretted saying it the moment I'd finished speaking. My voice sounded dreamy, almost as if I was swooning a little. The fact that his intense gaze was making me swoon was beside the point.

"Baby Doll, I wanted you the moment I saw you in that skimpy little pyjama piece you were wearing," he drawled in a _very_ sexy, English accent.

_Fuck me_, I thought. I wanted to jump into his lap, and take him where he sat, everyone else be damned. However, the urge to kiss him was suddenly overpowered by the urge to show him I wasn't going to be an easy catch for him. After all the teasing and the ever present sexual tension between us, the end product was bound to be good.

I smiled to myself as a quick plan formed in my mind.

It would take _a hell of a lot _of willpower, but it would make everything so much more interesting. I started leaning towards him, giving him the false impression that I was about to kiss him.

He shifted forward, and his scent enveloped me yet again. It made my willpower very nearly evaporate. But, with the scrap I had left, I reached up, kissed two of my fingers, and pressed them to his deliciously soft lips.

My eyes were open, which meant I was able to catch the moment he opened his to reveal the darkened irises hidden within. The skin on my finger was tingling as I pulled them away. I didn't like the loss of contact at all, but I had no choice.

"Now it's your turn," I whispered into his ear, before rocking back onto my heels and standing up. I was feeling incredibly lightheaded as I began walking away. It was a miracle I didn't fall over. I knew that if I did, it would ruin the whole moment.

Once I got far enough away, I glanced back over my shoulder, and smiled lazily when I saw the dazed expression on his face, knowing all he could do was watch me walk away from him. In that moment, I felt incredibly good.

I was still thinking about the lust induced look in his eyes as I walked back into the school building, that I didn't see Rosalie at first.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, coming towards me. "Why don't you look like you've been snogging Jasper's face off?"

"I'm going to assume that snogging is like making out?" I asked, smiling when she nodded quickly. "I don't look like I've been snogginghis face off because, I _haven't_. I didn't even kiss him."

"What?" she asked in a disbelieving tone. "Why the hell not?"

"Let me finish," I said, my smile turning into a grin. "I went in for a kiss, but, instead of kissing him, I said 'now it's your turn'."

She was quiet for a second, before she clapped her hand on my shoulder. "Damn, girl, you have way more restraint than I ever would. But, hell yeah you make him work for it!"

"I'm glad you don't think I'm crazy for not kissing him-"

"No, I think you're a complete nutter for not kissing him. But, I think you've made the right move," she said, interrupting me. Her English lingo was sometimes a little hard to keep up with, but her eccentric words made me smile.

"Anyway, as I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted," I continued, making her laugh. "I think, in this sense, I'm kind of old school. As in, he's got to be the one to make the first move and kiss me, you know?"

It was strange how I was admitting this to her. I'd never really told anyone that before, but it was true, the guy always had to be the one to make the move for the first kiss.

"But, I swear if he doesn't kiss me at the prom, then I'll throw all morals out of the window, and will seriously just do it myself."

Rosalie sighed, seemingly downcast about something. "I hate to be the one to break this to you, Alice, but fraternizing is forbidden within these walls, even on prom night."

"What?" I all but shrieked, finding that incredibly hard to believe. "But, Bella, Jess and Angela have boyfriends going to the prom!"

"I know! It's all really silly if you ask me. We're in the modern age, where people actually _date _each other, and yet you're not allowed to participate in acts that could be seen as sexual in any way."

I rolled my eyes at how severely _old school_ this place really was. Sure, I'd said that _I _was old school, but not like that! "What do you actually do at these proms, then? Do you have to stay ten feet away from each other at all times? Do they send you to bed if you're caught talking to a boy?"

She laughed at the incredulous tone in my voice. It was getting higher and higher with every word I spoke.

"You can dance and flirt with them all you want, but, basically, if you're caught getting off with one of them, then you're going to be slapped with a detention quicker than you can blind. Oh, and you get banned from pretty much anything fun for the rest of the year."

I shook my head, not knowing what to say to that. I'd really been counting on getting to kiss Jasper at the prom, and now that I knew it was forbidden, it had really put a downer on everything. In some sense, I wished I'd been able to kiss him _now_.

"Although," she continued, with a devious lilt to her voice. "That's only if you're caught. Last year, Bella and Edward disappeared for a good hour and a half, and let's just say they were using their lips to do the talking."

I grinned.

Maybe all hope wasn't completely lost, after all.

* * *

The rest of the week went by really slow. During our History and Gym classes, Kate and Garrett completely blanked me, and whenever they had to call my name out, there was always this hint of distaste in their voice, which amused me no end.

Finally, the week came to an end, and Saturday arrived. We all got our passes to go out of school sorted, and then we caught the bus into the centre of town. They led me to lots of different shops, many of which I'd never heard the name of.

We tried on tons of different dresses, each of which being as inadequate as the last. That was until we came to a shop called Monsoon, apparently it was expensive. Nonetheless, I found the perfect dress. It was a simple, midnight blue, halter neck dress that stopped just above my knees.

It showed a hell of a lot of skin, especially on my back, but the girls all said that it wasn't distasteful or slutty – their words, not mine. The rest of them all found equally as nice dresses from various shops around the mall.

"So, where are we going next?" I asked after we finished eating our rather unhealthy lunch in McDonalds.

"Well, we need to get shoes," Jessica said, deep in thought.

"Accessories, too," Angela added.

"Then we'll need to get some new make-up 'cause I'm running out," Bella concluded.

"And then?" I asked, grinning at them all as they listed our itinerary for the day one after another.

"Then…" Rosalie began, dragging out the word because she didn't know what to say. "You're ready to blow Jasper's mind."

My grin grew wider as laughter erupted around the table. "Saturday just can't come quick enough."

* * *

**A/N****: So, what did you think? Would you have had the willpower Alice had? I don't think I'd have managed to walk away, js. There's something different coming up in the next chapter – we have some Jasper POV.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N****: Chapter 8!**

**You wouldn't believe how fun it was to write Englishsper. Seriously, it's **_**so**_** fun. Jasper's English, I'm English, we should make babies…I mean…I found it easier. If there are any phrases you don't understand, just ask me, and I'll help you out. Though I think most phrases are pretty easy to follow.**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Jasper, I just made him English.**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - From the First Glance**

**June 1****st**** 2009**

**Jasper POV**

I looked around cautiously, anticipating Maria to jump out from behind the corner at any moment. She had the tendency to do just that whenever I would visit Mum. I swear the girl stalked me, or had cameras in the garage, so that she would know when I turned up. I was hoping that today, because it wasn't a planned trip, she wouldn't find me and stop for a chat. Said chats were always exceptionally hard to get out of. She just kept_ talking_, and _talking_, and not to mention the shameless flirting she sent my way.

Don't get me wrong; I loved receiving attention from the opposite sex just as much as the next guy. But, Maria…she was something else altogether.

I was just walking around the corner towards the corridor that led to Mum's office, when I walked straight into someone. I reached out, feeling like a dick, and held onto her before she fell to the floor. Only then did I realise who it was I'd walked into.

Alice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see…" she began, but the moment our eyes met, her voice just trailed away from her.

I smiled at that. Call me arrogant, but I was certain I was the reason behind her voice trailing away as it had. "You should really watch where you're going, Alice."

A massive smile formed on her face as I finished, and I couldn't help but notice how much her face lit up when she smiled like that.

"I guess I should. Sorry, my mind was a bit preoccupied. I'll remember that the next time I'm around people," she said, babbling ever so slightly. She was kind of cute when she did that, and I wanted to hear her doing it again, for sure.

"So, why are you here on a Monday?" she asked, breaking me from my musings. "Do you come here often?"

Much like earlier, with her smile, I grinned as she enquired why I was here. She didn't _have _to speak to me. In fact, after she'd finished talking earlier, she could easily have walked away from me. Although, I was certain I'd have said something to call her back, and knowing me, it would have been the first thing off the top of my head. I would have inevitably made a complete fool of myself.

"I'm actually visiting my mum; my lessons were cancelled today. Also, I haven't seen her in like a fortnight, and to answer your other question, no, I'm not here often. However, I try to be, even if it is merely just to admire the view."

I smirked at her, turning the charm onto full notch. I briefly wondered whether she realised that I was referring to her. I couldn't help but stare as I watched her pouty lips part as if in surprise. However, she seemed to recover, as a sexy, confident smirk played across her lips. To say that smirk alone wasn't a turn on, would be a lie, and a big one, at that.

"Admire the view, huh?" she murmured rather seductively, whether intentionally or not, that was how I interpreted it. "Seen anything you like?"

_Oh, she knows I'm talking about her, alright_, I thought to myself as I allowed my eyes to do all the talking for me.

"The view's looking pretty good from where I'm standing," I whispered. She was stunned, or at least, I think she was. Just seeing her standing in front of me was enough to make me want to lean down and kiss her. In between the time we last saw each other and now, she'd been on my mind. More often that not, I'd wake up each morning from a dream she stared in. It was driving me insane, and now that she was here in front of me, it was almost too much to handle.

As my thoughts drifted on, I heard some voices.

"Crap," I muttered under my breath as I looked around. _"Maria_."

_Why did she always have to be nearby?_ I questioned in my mind. _I wish she would just piss off for _one _visit_.

I had to get out of here, and _fast_, but as I looked back at Alice, I knew that I didn't want to leave her yet. So I did something really fucking daft. I took her hand in mine and pulled her away from Maria's voice. I was glad she couldn't see my face, or more correctly, the grin that was plastered across it. Her hand was so small, but it fit into mine perfectly.

The second I saw the alcove in the wall, I knew I was going to hide there. It was like Mission Impossible, or something, and I was so very tempted to start humming the theme tune.

After I pulled her into the alcove, I poked my head out into the corridor, scanning the area for any signs of my stalker. I made a comment, asking whether she thought Maria saw us, and the responding giggle I got from her made me forget Maria altogether. I watched her, probably a little too intently, as she continued to display her obvious amusement.

Her nose scrunched up slightly, and her teeth nipped at her bottom lip. If I had a camera, I would have taken a photo, as my memory would never do justice to this perfection.

"If she saw us, she would have followed us here," she finally said, her expression straightening out as she spoke, much to my dismay.

"I'm glad she didn't follow us," I murmured, clearly not filtering any of my current thoughts. From the look she gave me, I knew she was sensing the change in my tone because I sure as hell did. If Maria had followed us, then Alice and I would not have been standing in this tiny little alcove. In fact, we were so close, that I could feel her body heat.

"So," I continued when she didn't say anything in response to my previous comment. "Are you going to the end of year prom?"

_Please say that she is,_ I thought to myself, wanting nothing more than to see her in a dress, and dancing in my arms. _Yes_, dancing in my arms. That was all I could see now when I thought about the upcoming prom.

"What?" she asked, sounding completely baffled at my question.

"Are you going to the prom?" I asked again, hoping that she would answer this time. I wanted an answer out of her, and I didn't want to make it obvious by asking her a third time. It would only come across as desperate.

"You have prom here?" she finally asked, making me laugh. That was so typically American of her to assume that we didn't do things the same way they did across the other side of the world.

"Yes, Alice, we have prom here, too," I murmured teasingly. I expected her to smile, but when she grimaced, my stomach dropped slightly. I really hadn't meant it to offend her. _Nice one, Jasper_.

I was about to apologise, when she eagerly asked, "Will you be going?"

I fought back the smirk that wanted to break free across my face, as I said, "You didn't answer your question."

"Neither did you," she shot back, her eyes challenging me to carry on.

Instead, I grinned at her, letting her have the last word on that part of the conversation. "Of course I'm going, but, I would like to see you there, too."

I inwardly slapped myself as I realised my slip up. It seemed like I couldn't keep my thought in when I was around Alice, it was as if I wanted to let her know what I was thinking. In this case, I wanted to make it damn obvious I would like to see her at the prom.

A beautiful, yet slightly shy smile spread across her face, and I knew she was going to tell me something I wanted to hear. I held my breath, nonetheless, and the moment she told me we would be seeing each other there, I exhaled, feeling my heart rate increase with excitement.

"Good," I whispered, staring down at her full, pouty lips. I was leaning towards her before I could process the action in my mind. I quickly licked my lips – a kneejerk reaction – and inhaled. She smelt sweet, and for some reason, it reminded me of summer.

As I leant closer, I desperately wanted to bring my lips to her, craving to see if she tasted just as sweet. My mind drifted, and I thought about the way her lips would feel against my own, demanding, unyielding. I could imagine myself pushing her up against the wall, as we moaned into each other's mouths, our tongues played together in harmony.

"I'll be the one in the suit," I whispered, my lips brushing against her skin as I spoke. "I'll see you there, Baby Doll."

I pulled back, storing the image of her standing there, eyes closed, ready to kiss me, in my mind, and turned away. Just thinking about what would have happened, convinced me that it couldn't happen there. I was feeling more turned on now than what I had in a long time, and if even one part of the scenario I played in my head actually _happened_, I knew, without a doubt, I wouldn't have been able to stop.

As I walked away, I was feeling pretty darn good, and confident, about how I'd ended it. A large part of me wanted to kiss her, claim her, but now I'd shown her that I was more than interested, and, undoubtedly, we both knew something was going to go down between us at the prom.

However, I got about two steps around the corner when I started to feel like a complete and utter prat. The confident side of me was clearly going to remain short lived.

"I'll see you there, Baby Doll, what the fuck _was_ that?" I muttered to myself. "What a fucking tit."

I was still cursing and beating myself up about it as I got to Mum's office. I took a deep breath and shook my head, trying to get Alice out of my mind, even though that was nigh impossible to do in my current frame of mind.

After I had sufficiently calmed down, I knocked on the door. I heard Mum telling me to come in, and I pushed the door open.

"Jasper!" she exclaimed as soon as she saw me. She got up, walked over and pulled me into a tight embrace. "It's so good to see you!"

Then as she pulled away, she added as an afterthought, "You're not bunking school, are you? I don't want you skipping classes just to come and see me."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Be reasonable, Mum, do you really think I'd be here if I was wagging it?"

My eyebrow was raised as I finished, just challenging her to try and find a comeback. She smiled, before signalling for me to sit down across from her. "You have a point there."

Once we were settled, I realised she actually looked really stressed out. "Is everything okay?" I asked, concerned.

She smiled grimly and pulled a face that said _yes and no_. "It's just school stuff, that's all."

"Is it anything that would interest me?" I doubted that it would, school stuff rarely did. But she liked to talk about it, sometimes, if it wasn't anything too confidential, so I'd listen to her vent, if I had to.

"Actually, I think it would," she said, taking me by surprise. "There's a student here who is doing everything she can to get expelled."

I frowned. There was no logic in what she had just said. "Why would she want to do that? Surely her parents are paying a lot for her to be here?"

She sighed, obviously exasperated over the whole situation. "Her father enrolled her here without her consent. She's from America."

"Alice?" Her name was passed my lips before I could stop myself.

"You know her?"

When I realised my mistake, I started to backtrack. "I've seen her around, and heard her name being mentioned a couple of time, that's all." _Oh, and I nearly kissed her a couple of minutes ago_.

She gave me a look that she said didn't know whether to believe me or not, but I continued before she could say anything. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I spoke.

"So, what has she been doing, then?"

"The question should be: _what hasn't she been doing_," she said, rubbing her temple with her finger and thumb.

I gave her a long stare, trying to fight the smirk that wanted so badly to be on my face. _Tell me, Mum, how are you expecting me to interpret that comment, really?_

"What exactly did she do?" I asked, trying again. I was intrigued to find out what she'd done; if she was trying to get expelled, it must have been something pretty bad.

"Her latest conquest was to post indecent pictures that included the faces of two of our teachers around the school," she replied, then pursed her lips disapprovingly when I started laughing.

"That was her? Oh my God, that is-"

She silenced me with a stern look, and I sobered up immediately. It clearly didn't amuse her like it did me.

"It's not funny, Jasper, think about what it's like for the teachers involved," she said, and I grimaced, 'cause she did have a point. Even so, I still couldn't completely remove the smirk from my face.

One of the lads at school had a sister here, she'd text him, telling him about pictures her friends had found. The word had spread pretty quickly, and a lot of people thought it was a legendary prank to pull.

To find out that Alice had been the one behind it attracted me to her even more. "What else did she do?" I continued, suddenly desperate to get something more out of her.

"Why the sudden interest?" she asked sceptically.

I shrugged, feigning a noncommittal stance. "I just want to know what she'd done to get you so rattled." _I just want to know Alice better_.

It was partly true, because she rarely lost her rag with anyone. But it wasn't the main reason, and I know that _she _knew that, too.

"She stole the key that I use to activate the bell, and then placed it into the pocket of our year representative."

My admiration for Alice seemed to triple in size the moment Maria was brought into the equation. "To be fair, both are pretty annoying."

Her eyes widened in shock to see that I was siding with Alice. "Oh, come on, Mum, don't give me that look," I continued, smiling to try and win her over again. "You do set that bell to go off real early, and there _is _one in every room."

She thought it over for a moment, and then sighed. "Okay, I can understand what you're saying, _to a point_. But, what exactly do you have against Maria? She seems like a lovely girl to me."

I scoffed at her response. "You think Maria's a lovely girl? Stuff that idea, Mum. She's borderline stalker!"

"Don't be absurd."

"I'm not! Every time I visit you, it feels like I'm visiting her, as well. It's as if she keeps tabs on me, or something."

"I think you're going over the top now," she muttered, shaking her head. "I bet you haven't seen her today, have you?"

I opened my mouth, then stopped and closed it once again. Technically, I hadn't actually _seen_ her today. "I heard her voice, actually. But I legged it before she could see me."

I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face as I thought about what I did afterwards, consequently making me think of Alice again.

"I don't know why you're so opposed to her, Jasper," she continued. "I think it would be quite fitting, really. Just think about it, the head teacher's son and the year representative being an item – outside of school, of course. You know the rules."

My expression turned into something that displayed how appalled I was as I quickly shook my head, deliberately ignoring her latter comment. With Alice, the rules meant jack to me. If the situation arose, the fact fraternizing was forbidden wouldn't stop me in the slightest.

"No, Mum, just no. If I was going to go out with anyone in this school, she isn't the girl I'd pick, trust me."

She raised her eyebrows, intrigued, and gave me her motherly grin. "Got your eye on someone, have you?"

Alice's face flashed across my vision, and I had to fight back the urge to blurt out her name, like I had earlier. Luckily, I held it back, knowing the consequences of that would have been dire.

"What, no!" I said, spluttering slightly. _Always playing it cool, _I thought to myself sarcastically.

"Sometimes you forget how much I know you," she murmured, smiling at me. "I can tell when you're lying. There's definitely someone. Come on, spill."

In that moment, she wasn't being my mother. Instead, she was taking on the role of my older sister, teasing me over a possible crush. There were only a few situations where I felt like this, and I relished them. I guess that was one of the perks of being adopted, and having a young adoptive parent. If they wanted to, then they could carry out more than one role, even if I called her 'mum' the majority of the time.

I smiled to myself at the thought. She didn't question my smile, or make me answer her, as at the same moment, someone knocked on the door. She called out for them to come in, and I turned around, looking to see who it was. The fact that a part of me, a very _large _part of me, in fact, wanted it to be Alice walking through that door was irrelevant.

_Oh, you have got to be shitting me right now,_ was all I could think as Maria walked in. Her eyes seemed to light up the moment she saw me, and for a brief moment, I wanted to see Alice's eyes light up the same way. But I shook my head minutely; now was not the time to think about Alice.

I turned back to Mum and looked at her with wide eyes. I could tell she was trying to hide the smile on her face as she addressed Maria, who up until that moment, had been staring at me continuously.

"I'll see you later," I blurted out as I stood up. _Not you, Maria_, I added to myself as she smiled at my remark. Mum tittered to herself, before straightening out her expression into her professional one.

"Come back and see me before you leave," she said, and I could tell she was itching to hug me again, but with Maria in the room, she couldn't. I merely nodded, and left the room before Maria could make up an excuse and follow me out.

I exhaled as soon as I was outside, and quickly made a beeline for the exit. But as I got further away from the office, Maria drifted out of my thoughts, and Alice replaced her, yet again. I started to wonder where she was now, and whether she was thinking about me, as I was thinking about her.

As I stepped outside, I inhaled and started walking out towards the playing field. But, as I did so, I heard someone shout out, trying to get someone's attention. Being the only one in the area, I turned in their direction. I felt my heart rate increase as I saw Alice and a blonde haired girl sitting on the grassy bank.

I smiled widely, knowing that they had called out to me, which meant that Alice must have been talking about me. Alice was talking about me. Alice had been thinking about me. The fact that realisation made me insanely happy, was actually kind of scary.

"Hello, ladies," I said, putting on the charm. I nodded at them both, honestly trying to look in the direction of the blonde, just not being able to take my eyes off Alice.

The blonde stood up, and I heard her voice, but I didn't register her words, at all. All I knew was that she wanted me to stay here with Alice, and I agreed readily. I took a seat next to Alice, turning to look at her once again_. Fuck, I wouldn't mind taking a tumble in the hay with her_, I thought to myself, letting my eyes quickly travel down her petite body. _She'd fit perfectly on my lap, riding my…_ Alice's voice broke through my sexual thoughts.

"Twice in one day, Mr Whitlock, anyone would think you were stalking me," she said, with a sexy smirk on her face.

I laughed, whilst realising how much I liked the sound of my name on her lips. _Now, if she was moaning it…_ I smirked. "I think you'll find it was _you _that walked into _me_, earlier."

"How could I forget?" she said, looking my in the eye. _I know I won't be able to forget you. _"Especially after what happened right before you walked away. You do realise that was wholly unfair of you to do that, right?"

The confident side of me was back again as the smirk grew, turning more lopsided. So I had made the right move after all.

"I would like to say that I regret," I murmured, staring at her lips. "But, I don't. However, there is one thing I regret."

The second I finished, she started leaning towards me. I had to physically keep my hands at my sides to stop them from reaching out, grabbing her waist, and crushing our bodies together.

"What?" Her voice was barely there, breathless. "What do you regret?"

I couldn't stop myself from leaning closer to her. Her lips were parted ever-so-slightly, and I licked my own lips as I thought about sucking her bottom lip into my mouth. I stopped myself from thinking about other places those lips of hers could be placed, knowing that thought alone would visibly turn me on.

"I regret that I didn't get to kiss you," I murmured huskily, staring deep into her eyes as they seemed to glaze over momentarily.

"You want to kiss me?"

I didn't answer her, not at first. She didn't even need an answer to that question. I think the way I was staring at her told her what she wanted to know.

"Baby Doll, I wanted you the moment I saw you in that skimpy little pyjama piece you were wearing," I drawled, leaning even closer. She was speechless, and we were so close now that I could feel the small puffs of her breathing against my skin.

In her moment of silence, I thought back to that first day that I saw Alice. It had been late in the evening, and I was bored out of my brains. So I decided to go for a stroll through the school. I hadn't expected to see this petite girl walking through the corridors, wearing something that could barely be classed as bed wear. I recognised her as the one causing the commotion at dinnertime.

My attraction to her had been instant, and so I followed her, wanting to gain her attention. I remember thinking to myself that she was very lithe and graceful, almost as if she was dancing instead of walking. I _had _wanted her the moment I saw her; and that was why I'd turned off the lights. God knows why, but I wanted to talk to her, and if I called out to her, she'd have known that was following her.

Let's just say I _wasn't_ disappointed. She sounded feisty, just how I liked it. But, when I went to switch the lights back on, it had taken longer than expected, and by the time I got back to the corridor, she had gone.

When I felt her getting closer, it brought me back to the present. It was obvious what was going to happen, we were going to kiss, and I wasn't going to stop it from happening this time. I don't think I _would _be able to stop it this time, not after the thoughts I'd been having about her. I needed to quench the undying desire I had for Alice before it grew any stronger.

My senses were filled with her sweet aroma, and I inhaled shamelessly, storing the scent into my memory, for later, when I would be back at school, and needed something to associate her with.

I closed my eyes, just as I tilted my head to the side, ready to receive her lips on mine. Then suddenly, she made contact, but it wasn't her lips, at all. No, the lust induced haze in my mind wasn't thick enough to stop me from realising that.

My eyes shot open, and I realised it was two of her slender fingers pressing against me, instead. The sensation I received from the touch of her skin on mine went straight to my groin, and I nearly let out an impromptu groan.

_Screw this_, I thought, going to hungrily bring my lips to hers. However, before I could even move, she pulled her fingers away, whispering, "Now it's your turn," into my ear.

She completely pulled away from me and stood up. I watched her, powerless to do anything to stop her. She turned from me and started walking away, only once looking back at me over her shoulder.

She disappeared around the corner, and only then did I look away. The tables had flipped one-eighty, and once again, she had put the ball back in my court. I was the one to make the next move, and without a doubt, by the time prom was over, I would have made my move, and it will have been a move that neither of us were going to forget.

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**A/N****: Like I said, this was fun to write. I hope you liked it.**

**Check out my blog, or follow me on twitter at FrozenSoldier.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N****: Chapter 9!**

**Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, or added this story to their favourite/alert list. It means a lot.**

**Disclaimer****: Once again, I don't own anyone mentioned in this chapter. All I own is the fact I made the majority of these characters have English accents.**

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**Chapter 9 - Doing Something About It**

**June 13****th**** 2009**

**Alice POV**

It took us all nearly three hours to get ready. We spent ages perfecting our hair and make-up, until finally there was nothing left to do. I was currently straightening out my dress over and over again. It was getting to the point where I started to feel like a human iron.

I then moved over to the mirror and checked my hair, make-up, dress, and even my shoes, for the millionth time this evening. Even without the girls telling me so, I knew that I looked good. But I still couldn't help but feel really nervous.

Tonight was the night, and if something went wrong then it could quite possibly be the last chance I got to kiss Jasper. I kept telling the girls that I wanted to kiss him, but deep down, I knew it was some thing much more than that.

I was falling for Jasper, and considering I'd only met him a handful of times, realising that was kind of scary and hard to absorb. However, at the same time, the prospect of falling for him excited me. Which was why tonight was so important to me.

"Should we go down?" Angela asked after she'd finished putting away her make-up. We all agreed, and slowly we made our way down to the main hall. Apparently the two schools took it in turn to hold the prom, and this year was the girls' turn.

I was anxious as we walked towards the hall. Was Jasper already there? Would I walk in and my eyes be drawn to him immediately? Or would he see me first? Would he come over to me? Would I go to him? All of those questions floated around and around in my mind, looking for an answer.

"He won't be in there yet," Rosalie whispered in my ear, obviously sensing my anxiety.

"How do you know?" I asked, looking back at her.

"We're early. The guys don't usually turn up until everything's sorted," she replied, and I could tell she was relieved about that. The fact she was nervous about seeing Royce again was as plain as day for me to see.

When we walked into the hall, I scanned the area. Even though Rosalie had told me he wouldn't be here, I still couldn't help but look, just to make sure. The place looked completely different to what it usually did. There was now a DJ table set up at the back, with speakers dotted around the room. I spotted a drinks table across the other side of the room, and I wondered, briefly, if there was going to be the cliché of someone spiking the bowl of punch with alcohol. But, as I searched the table, I frowned. _Huh, no bowl of punch_.

As I began looking at the faces of the adults in the room, I noticed that Esme was already in here. My eyes widened as I took in the shimmering purple dress she had on. She looked beautiful, young, and totally different from what she normally did. When she saw that we had walked in, she smiled and came over to us.

"Oh, don't you girls look lovely," she said, her smile widening as she looked as each of us one after the other.

"You look lovely, too," Rosalie commented.

Esme waved her hand at her. "Thank you, Rosalie, that's nice of you to say. But I'm not trying to impress anyone here. No one will be looking at me now, not with all you pretty girls in the room."

For the briefest of moments, she looked sad, and in that instant, I wished that my father was here. I couldn't really understand why I thought that, but all I knew was that he would give her the attention she was talking about.

"Don't say that," Jessica murmured. "Just look at your dress, Esme, it is absolutely gorgeous! Where did you get it from?"

Esme smiled again, and she began telling Jessica which shop she'd bought it from. I zoned out, looking towards the door. I'd just heard it open, and immediately I scanned their faces. My heart sunk when I realised the only ones walking in were female.

"When will the boys be getting here?" Bella asked, pulling me back into the conversation. I turned to look at Esme, eager for her answer.

She seemed to think it over for a moment. "Well, Jasper told me that they were due to leave around seven thirty, and it takes about a ten minute drive. So I would say seven forty five, at the latest."

At the mention of Jasper, my heart started beating a little faster, and a smile spread across my face. I looked at the large clock on the wall and saw that it was just passed seven twenty five now. They would be leaving soon. Jasper would be here in less than half an hour.

Esme walked away, then, obviously going to talk to the girls that had just walked in. I caught Rosalie looking at the clock, as well, but her expression was far less enthusiastic than what mine was.

"I won't let him get to you, Rosalie," I whispered so that only she would hear me. I wasn't sure if the others knew; I was certain Rosalie must have told them something. But I said it quickly just in case. She smiled in response, but didn't say anything.

A second later, the opening notes to a song started. I smiled, recognising the song as _Can't Fight the Moonlight_ by LeAnn Rimes straight away. My smile turned into a grin as I looked back at Rosalie and started mouthing the words to her.

_Under a lover's sky, gonna be with you, and no one's gonna be around_.

The frown that had been on her face disappeared and a smile replaced it. I thanked the God up above that I knew the words to this song inside out, or else it would have totally ruined the moment.

By the time the chorus came around, I knew that I was about to start singing. There was something about this song; it was the catchiest tune ever. Rosalie, obviously having the same idea as me, started singing with me.

_You can try to resist, try to hide from my kiss, but you know, but you know, that you can't fight the moonlight_.

The chorus finished, and I stood up, pulling Rosalie with me. I laughed, missing one of the lines in the verse, and started to dance.

_No matter what you think, it won't be too long, till you're in my arms_.

We held out our arms in time with the lyrics. People were looking at us now. I could feel their gaze on us. But, I really couldn't care less. I was having too much fun to stop, and I was sure Rosalie felt the same way.

We sang right up until the last word, and as the song came to an end, the DJ started clapping. I grinned, turned to him, and curtsied. I took a look around, and saw there were more people in here now, all of which were looking in our direction. We both turned back towards our seats and collapsed onto them.

"Thanks, Alice, I needed that," Rosalie said, sounding out of breath, but happier than before. "But, hell, I'm absolutely knackered now."

The next song came on, but nothing you could sing along to. The minutes passed, more girls came in, and we decided to get a drink before the table became too crowded. I was clock watching, I knew that.

When the first of the boys started coming in, my heart felt as if it was about to burst out of my chest; it was beating that quickly. I scoured every new face, even when the guy had brown hair, I still looked.

I noticed a group of boys, obviously full of themselves, strolling in, smiling and looking around them, like lions looking at their catch. I rolled my eyes, going back to looking at the newcomers.

A tall, extremely good looking, bronze haired boy smiled in our direction, and started walking towards us. I paid little attention to him until Bella stood up and hugged him, giving him a quick kiss before no one caught her.

"Alice, this is Edward, Edward, this is my new roommates, Alice," she said, smiling widely. The difference being in his presence made on her was tangible. She was pretty much glowing, and I could very nearly feel the happiness radiate out of her.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Alice," he murmured, nodding at me. "I've heard a lot about you."

I nodded back at him. "I've heard a lot about you, too, Edward."

His arm tightened around Bella and I turned away, giving them time to catch up. I took that chance to look around the room again, but I didn't see Jasper anywhere. Where the hell was he?

Suddenly, I felt Rosalie hand on my arm, and I looked around just in time to see the same group of boys from earlier walking towards us. I realised too late that the guy in the middle was Royce.

"Rosalie," he droned, in a disgustingly smooth voice. "What a joy it is to see you again. Why don't we forget about everything and dance with each other?"

"Leave me alone, Royce," Rosalie told him, and I could hear the bitterness in her voice. But, he merely let out a quick laugh, and turned his gaze onto me. His eyes trailed down my body and back up again, making my skin crawl.

"Don't look at me, jerk," I said through my teeth, glaring at him.

He smirked, almost smugly, and looked back at Rosalie. "What have you been telling her, Rosalie?"

"I told her what you did," she said, malice dripping from every word.

He let out one, short, condescending laugh. "More like what you didn't do."

"You think you're so great, don't you? I saw you sauntering in here earlier acting like you owned the place. But you know what I think? I think you've got such a big ego because you're seriously lacking in other departments."

His jaw tightened, and I knew I'd hit a nerve. "Why don't you go home, bitch? American scank like you are not _wanted_ around here."

I was about to retort, with God knows what, but before I could, someone beat me to it, and just hearing his voice made me feel suddenly at ease. Even with the anger I felt towards this son of a bitch, I felt immensely better, knowing Jasper was here.

"You better watch what you're saying, Royce."

Royce laughed, actually fucking _laughed_. "Are you threatening me, Whitlock?"

I felt Jasper move closer, the heat from his body reached me, and I was momentarily lost in how close we were, finally. Rosalie moved away, coming to stand on my other side.

"Do you really want to piss me off, Royce?" Jasper's voice turned ice cold. "I would _love_ for you to give me a reason to start a fight, and it'll be you who'll get the blame for starting something, not me."

Royce sized up to Jasper for a moment, and I seriously thought he'd lost his fucking mind. The way Jasper was speaking was actually _scary_, and he didn't sound like he was messing around. But, a second later he stepped back and skulked away from us, back to the people he'd walked in with.

Jasper remained watching him for a moment, before turning in our direction. The corner of his mouth turned up as he stared at me. I couldn't help but drink in the black suit he was wearing. Most of the others were wearing the tradition white shirt, black suit. Not Jasper. Everything was black, and boy, was it the sexiest thing I'd ever seen.

"Are you two okay?" he asked, briefly looking at Rosalie, before letting his eyes land on me once again.

"I think so," Rosalie said, her voice barely there. "Thank you, both of you. I don't know what I would have done if I was alone."

She then turned to me as she finished. "Do you want to go outside for a bit? I need some fresh air."

"Yeah, sure," I agreed immediately. I turned back to Jasper, and he was looking almost uncomfortable, which confused me. Rosalie started moving away, and I took a step in her direction then frowned when Jasper looked away, again, with an uncomfortable look in his eyes.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

He turned back to look at me with a tiny smile on his face. He didn't say anything as he stepped towards me, following us out. When we got outside, Rosalie inhaled deeply.

"That son of a bitch," she muttered, shaking her head. "He actually had the cheek to ask me to dance. Who the fuck does he think he is? That boy makes me so fucking livid!"

Jasper shared a glance with me, obviously sensing that something had happened between Rosalie and Royce before. But, I wasn't about to tell him, so I shook my head.

"Royce is such an arrogant fuck at school, as well," Jasper said, breaking the silence. "I hate him."

I snorted. "Doesn't most people? I wanted to smack him after what he said to me."

"_I _wanted to knock his lights out after that comment." His words came out as a growl; he looked really riled up again. My heart swelled when I realised that he wanted to hit Royce after something he'd said about me. Jasper wanted to stand up for me, fight for me, and even though I didn't want to see him fighting, it made me happy.

"What do you think Emmett would have done?" Rosalie asked. I was silent for a moment, feeling surprised that she had mentioned him. I'd barely even thought about him; my thoughts were solely on Jasper.

"I think he would try to kill him, seriously," I said in a sober voice. "Emmett turns into a grizzly bear when someone insults me. He's actually really scary when he's like that."

"Emmett?" Jasper asked, almost dejectedly so, in fact.

"He's Alice's hot best friend," Rosalie said, flashing me a quick grin. I laughed and rolled my eyes before glancing at Jasper. He was staring at me with an unfathomable sadness in his eye. I couldn't understand it, and it kind of made me sad just seeing it.

"He's only hot to you, Rosalie," I told her. "Besides, I've got my eye on someone else."

As I finished, I turned to look at Jasper, silently telling him that _he _was the one I wanted. When my words sunk in, a smile spread across his face, and for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything that looked more perfect than that smile right there.

"I'm gonna check my make-up," Rosalie murmured, smiling knowingly as she left us to it. I watched her leave, knowing that she was merely giving us some space to talk alone.

"So," Jasper began, stepping towards me. "You got your eye on someone else, huh? Anyone I know?"

I bit my lip into my mouth as the left side of his mouth turned upwards. I stared at his lips before pulling myself together and looking him in the eye.

"I think you might know him," I murmured, watching as he took another step towards me, grinning seductively. _God, he's so fucking sexy_.

"Oh, is that so? Tell me what he looks like," he continued, and in that moment, I knew he thought he was in control of the situation – that he had the upper hand. I was about to prove him so very wrong.

"Well," I hummed, looking him up and down. "He's really tall, with these gorgeous green eyes and curly, blond hair that you just want to put your hands in while he's kissing. He has these full, perfect lips, and they are even worse, you see, because all I can think about when I see them, is just how much I want to feel them on me… _everywhere_."

By the time I finished, he was staring at me, looking like he wanted to devour me. That thought alone sent a delicious shiver down my spine.

"I'm still waiting, you know," I murmured, as I saw the door open and for Rosalie to poke her head out and give me a thumbs up. "The last time we met, I told you that it was your turn. I do hope you're going to do something about…_this_."

I bit my lip, and then slowly released it before pulling away. However, before I could take more than a couple of steps, I felt his fingers curl around my arm. He spun me around, pulling me against his chest.

"I'll show you doing something about it, Baby Doll," he murmured as he leant forward, and my heart felt like it had pretty much exploded at his sudden actions. I might have had the upper hand earlier, but right now, Jasper had everything, including the power to do whatever he wanted to me.

But, a second before his lips were supposed to press onto mine, we heard the door opening, and I knew that it wouldn't be Rosalie. She'd never open the door that brusquely. We broke apart immediately and looked to see who it was.

"Ah, there you are, Jasper," Esme said, before stopping, and looked between us with a wary look in her eyes. "Why are you two out here on your own?"

"Rosalie needed some air," I blurted out, feeling my cheeks heat up. I was usually confident, or at least in control of myself in situations like these. But when I was nearly caught kissing by the guy's mother, that was a situation I'd never been in before. Not only that, but his mother was _Esme_, the fucking headmistress. She'd already said that I was on my last life here, and I really didn't want her using it as an excuse to expel me. I didn't want that, not after what just happened between me and Jasper.

"So that's why Rosalie is in the hallway, is it?" I didn't even dare look at Jasper, who was standing stock still next to me. "Get back to the hall, Alice."

I complied instantly and moved passed her towards the door. Feeling brave, I glanced back at Jasper, and saw him looking back at me with an apprehensive look on his face. Sizing up to Royce, that was nothing. But standing in front of his mother? Now he was scared.

Once the door was closed behind me, I took in a deep breath. Rosalie came towards me, her eyes wide.

"What happened? I tried to delay her, but she went right out there," she told me as we moved away from the door and back towards the hall.

"He was about to kiss me and she walked out," I replied, grimacing. I wasn't sure whether I should have been disappointed that he didn't get to kiss me, or glad that she'd walked in when she did. If she had been a couple of seconds later, she would have walked out to find me wrapped around her son.

"Oh my God," she whispered as we walked back into the hall. I gave her a look as if to say 'that is exactly what I'm thinking' before we went over to where we had been sitting before. There were two new guys there, and I could only assume they were the boyfriends of Angela and Jessica.

A quick introduction was made, and I found out that Ben was a match made in heaven for Angela. I could tell that he was shy and very intelligent, exactly the kind of guy Angela suited. Mike was the opposite of Ben, in that he wasn't shy at all. As soon as he saw me, he stuck his hand out for me to shake. His hair was blond and a little messy, and for some reason, the styling reminded me of Edward's. Speaking of Edward, I looked around quickly and noticed that neither he nor Bella were anywhere to be found.

"Where are Bella and Edward?" I asked, taking another look around.

"God knows," Jessica replied, grinning. "But I have a fair guess that they are somewhere people won't find them easily."

Rosalie and I both laughed, and for the briefest moments, I wished Bella had told me where they went, so that maybe I could drag Jasper to some place similar. The smile on my face lingered as I thought about Jasper and how he'd taken control back there. Very few things would have broken us apart if he'd actually kissed me.

Shortly after Rosalie and I decided to get a drink, I noticed that Esme was back in the room, which meant that Jasper was back, too. I immediately started looking around for him. A familiar song started playing, and I knew that in any other situation, Rosalie and I would be singing along to _Girlfriend_ by Avril Lavigne.

Finally, I saw him. But, to my dismay, I saw that Maria was standing next to him. As if he felt my gaze on him, he looked in my direction, and we held our eye contact. As if it was fate, the lyrics '_I know that you like me, no way, no way, I know it's not a secret' _started playing at the exact same time.

I grinned, knowing what the lyrics to the next verse were. I held our gaze as the lyrics '_I can see the way you look at me, and even when you look away I know you think of me' _played out.

"He looks like he wants to pounce on you," Rosalie murmured next to me, giggling. I let out a quick laugh and studied his expression. He'd obviously been listening to the lyrics, as well. The expression on his face looked as if he, well, as if he wanted to pounce on me, just like Rosalie said.

"I know, right?"

"Actually, Maria looks like she wants to pounce on you, too," she continued, and I couldn't control my laughter at her unexpected comment. She was right; Maria looked like she wanted to jump on me, for all the wrong reasons.

We both continued to laugh, but then as Jasper turned back to Maria and said something to her, the laughter died on my lips. I shouldn't have felt jealous because he was making it obvious that he liked me, but still, seeing him talk to her, when he could be talking to me, made me jealous.

Then I saw Maria put her hand on his arm, and I began gritting my teeth, thinking of excuses to go over there and rip her hand off. Why the hell was she touching him? I felt the jealousy in my chest merge with anger, and I was about three seconds away from going over there and saying something, when suddenly he pulled his arm free, and turned towards me.

The anger and jealously vanished the moment he started walking towards me. I shot Maria a quick glance, and saw that she was shooting daggers at me. It was a surprise that smoke wasn't coming out of her ears.

As Jasper came to stand next to me, the song came to an end, and a much slower one started playing. When he held his hand out to me, I took it without thinking, and smiled when I felt the same current pass through his hand to mine. His smile mirrored my own.

"May I have this dance?"

My smile grew wider, and I nodded, before turning to look at Rosalie, to see if it was okay to leave her for a little while. She rolled her eyes, and very nearly pushed me towards Jasper and the dance floor.

"Go, I'll sit with Angela and Ben." With that, she turned away and walked towards where I assumed Angela and Ben were. I looked at Jasper, who was still staring at me. He tugged at my hand slightly, and we made our way over to where other couples were dancing.

We stopped a little way from the others, so that we didn't bump into anyone. Jasper then pulled me towards him, placing his hands on my waist. Without thinking, I reached up, placing my hands on his shoulders, and we began to sway in time with the song.

"I hope everything was okay, earlier. With Esme, I mean," I told him, not letting my eyes leave his.

"When we talked last week, she worked out that there was a girl I liked. I don't think she's entirely too happy that you're the one I like, but, frankly, it doesn't really matter what she thinks anymore."

As he spoke, I felt a warm fuzzy feeling growing in my chest. I already knew that he liked me, but hearing him say it made me happier than I thought possible. After a couple of seconds, I felt his hands inch further around until his fingers were resting against the bare skin on my back.

A burst of electricity shot through me at his touch, and as he trailed one of his hands up the line of my spine, I shivered delicately. His eyes were smouldering as he stared down at me. Just staring back at him made it hard for me to keep my breathing in a regular pattern. The closeness, the way his hands were against me…it made me wish we weren't in a room full of people.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard the lyrics of the current song that was playing. With our current situation, the lyrics _who am I to tell you that I would never let you down? But no one else could love you half as much as I do now, _were making my heart feel as if it was about to burst out of my chest.

Then the electricity cut out.

Every light in room when down, making the room fall into complete darkness as the music came to an abrupt stop. For the briefest of moments, it was completely silent, and then suddenly everyone was talking, and asking what happened.

However, I paid little attention to those around me as I felt Jasper's finger underneath my chin, tilting my head upwards. My name escaped his lips in a whisper, and that was when I realised his face was mere centimetres from mine.

A gasp built up in my throat as he delicately placed his lips onto mine. All the dreams and scenarios I'd imagined were nothing compared to the real thing. His lips were soft, yet as he pressed them harder against mine, I forgot that we were in a room full of teachers and students. I forgot that we could easily be caught, and just focused on the kiss.

My fingers tangled into his hair as I reached up onto my toes, knowing that he was probably leaning down quite far to kiss me. A guttural moan escaped him, vibrating through his body to mine, as his tongue brushed against my lower lip. I parted my lips instantly, greedily kissing him back, before pressing my body into his.

In the back of my mind, I heard a strange whirring sound, and Jasper must have heard it, too, because suddenly he pulled away from me. I groaned, trying to find his lips in the dark once again, but a second later, the lights came back on, and I rocked onto my heels, closing my eyes from the sudden brightness.

When I opened my eyes moments later, I realised that even though the lights were back on, Jasper's hands were still resting halfway up my back, mine were still tangled in his curls at the nape of his neck, and our bodies were still crushed together.

"You've kept me waiting a long time for that," I said breathlessly. His eyes were darker than before, and I couldn't help but notice the difference in his lips, too. _God, I want to kiss him again so badly_.

"I'm sorry, Baby Doll," was his only response as he stared down at me. I wanted to remain like this in his arms, but the sound of Esme's voice broke through our little bubble, and we broke apart slightly.

"I don't know who thought it was a good idea to turn off the electricity, but whoever it was, should be very proud of themselves!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "In result of this little _stunt_, the prom is finishing earlier."

There was a chorus of groans and complaints thrown in Esme's direction, but she remained standing there, looking less than pleased.

"The transportation back to the boy's school will be here shortly. I want the boys to stay here, whilst I want all the girls to be back in their dorms in the next fifteen minutes. If anyone is caught walking around, there will be all hell to pay."

My eyes widened, and I looked back at Jasper. If we had to go now, did that mean I wouldn't see him again for another week?

"When will I see you next?" I asked urgently, needing to know so that I knew I was definitely going to see him.

"Don't worry, I'll find you," he said, confusing me, before nodding at something over my shoulder. "You should go before my mum gets angrier."

I nodded, knowing he was telling the truth, and I pulled away from him completely, even though I wanted to stay right here. His comment 'I'll find you' was still confusing me, and I was tempted to ask him what he meant, when I heard someone calling my name. I turned to see Angela, Rosalie and Jessica standing together, signalling me over.

I looked back at Jasper, wanting to reach up and kiss him goodbye, but I knew that if I did, and Esme saw, then I'd be in so much shit, that I wouldn't be able to find an excuse to get out of it.

"Just go," he murmured, chuckling. "You won't need to say goodbye just yet, trust me."

My brow furrowed in confusion once again, but, instead, I ended up giving him my best smile, before turning away from him, and going towards the girls. They all gave me knowing looks as we went out into the hallway.

I could tell one of them were about to ask what happened, when I saw Bella and Edward come walking around the corner, hand in hand. I let out a quick laugh as I saw that Bella's hair and make-up was a little messier than it had been at the start of the night.

"What the hell happened?" she asked as soon as she saw us. "The lights went out about five minutes ago."

"Yeah, they went out in the hall, too," Angela told her. "Esme seems to think someone did it deliberately, and so she ended the prom early."

"You should get back in there, Edward," Rosalie said before looking at Bella. "We've got to get back to our dorms straight away."

She groaned, and then turned back towards Edward. Sensing that they wanted to say goodbye to each other, we started walking away from them slowly. It was silly, but I was suddenly feeling envious of her. I wished that I could have said goodbye to Jasper like that, even though he'd said that I didn't need to say goodbye to him yet.

Bella caught up with us moments later, and she linked her arm with mine with a big smile on her face. Rosalie linked her arm with my other one, and grinned at me.

"So, what happened whilst the lights weren't on? Before they went out, you guys were dancing, and then the lights come on again, and suddenly his hands were all over you."

I giggled. "What do you think happened?"

Her eyes widened. "Did you guys kiss?"

"We did!" I all but squealed as I heard Jessica saying something about how we had taken advantage of a good situation. I wanted to ask her whether she had managed to kiss Mike tonight without getting caught, when I heard someone calling my name.

My heart leapt into my throat as we all stopped and turned back to Jasper, who was jogging down the corridor towards us. The look on his face made me whole body tingle, and I had to refrain from letting go of the girls and jumping on him.

"Hello, ladies," he drawled smoothly. He addressed everyone, yet his eyes didn't leave mine, and as he stepped towards us, I knew that he wasn't about to let me go back to my dorm.

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**A/N****: What did you think to this chapter? Did you like it? They finally kissed! Were you disappointed? Should it have happened in a different situation? Let me know what you thought!**

**I hope I didn't offend anyone with Royce's comment about how American's aren't welcome. Royce is just trying to be a jerk, it's not an opinion I share with him. Just thought I'd let you guys know.**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10!**

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. Big love goes out to the lot of you. From this chapter, everything is brand new. Hope ****you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Probably the only character I own in this story is Mrs Crawford, and that's really not a very exciting realisation.**

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**Chapter 10 - Too Late**

**June 13th 2009**

**Alice POV**

After his initial greeting, he went silent. For a moment he merely stared at me before allowing his gaze to flicker to the girls beside me.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to steal Alice for a bit…I need to talk to her. You don't mind, do you?"

Had his question been directed at me, he wouldn't have received an answer. Now I understood what he meant when he said I wouldn't have to say goodbye. He came to find me, just as he said he would.

"Mind? Why would we mind?" Rosalie was the one to respond, and I glanced at her, noting the hint in her voice. In the back of my mind, I knew I'd have ignored them had they said they had a problem with me talking to him. But, of course, I knew these girls, and I knew they'd never say stop me.

Jasper was focusing on me once again when I turned back. I heard the girls telling me something about not getting caught by any of the teachers lurking around, but I honestly couldn't find the words to reply. I was too caught up in Jasper to pay attention to them. Although, I did manage to say goodbye as they turned and left us alone.

Once they were out of sight, Jasper reached out for my hand. "Come on; let's get out of the corridor before everyone else comes out."

I nodded, taking his hand in mine. I tried to hold back the smile as he led me away, but I couldn't quite rein the whole thing in. Yet, when I snuck at glance at his face, I saw that he, too, was smiling, and I realised it didn't actually matter. I didn't need to hide my smile at all.

We were just walking down a quiet corridor when we heard voices coming from somewhere behind us. They were distant, but were unmistakably getting closer.

"Shit." Jasper spun around on the spot, looking in the direction we just came, and then gripped my hand tighter as he started pulling me along quickly, almost running. But with my high heels, it was damn impossible, not to mention loud.

"Wait, wait," I whispered, bending down to pull them off. A second later, my hand was back in his, and we were silently running down the corridor. I felt a rush of exhilaration, having the urge to start laughing and only just holding it in.

Before I knew what was happening, Jasper was pulling me into a little alcove, much like the one we'd been in just the other week. Except, this time, we weren't facing each other. I had my back to him, which, admittedly, I found was a downfall, until he gently pulled me backwards so that my back was resting against his chest.

My heart was pounding, more to do with the fact we were so close, than to do with the people who were coming down the corridor. His hands curled over my shoulders, holding me in place. I could feel the soft rise and fall of his chest against my back, and I knew this was affecting him as much as it was me.

We both froze as we heard someone say, "Can you get the lights?"

In a matter of seconds, the lights surrounding us shut out, and for the second time tonight, we were thrown into complete darkness. However, this time, as I heard the footsteps getting quieter and quieter, we were completely alone.

"Jasper…"

It came out as a whisper as I felt him trail a finger down the curve of my neck. I shivered delicately, leaning my head back. It was then he nudged my shoulders, and I knew exactly what he was trying to do. I turned, looking up at his face. Now that our eyes had adjusted, the small patch of moonlight from the window opposite us was enough for me to make out his outline.

It was also enough for me to see when he raised his hands, using them to cup my face, and tilt it upwards as he leant towards me. Without my heels, I was even shorter, so I rose up on my toes, meeting his lips eagerly.

The kiss we shared was hungry, full to the brim with a sudden passion for him. There was nothing I could do to calm down the frenzy of my mind as he pressed me up against the wall. When the heat from the kiss finally simmered down, I smiled against his lips.

"Well, so much for needing to talk to me."

"Talking is overrated," he said, laughing quietly. For the moments after, we stood in complete silence, his thumb stroking across my cheek. Slowly, he pulled away and reached for my hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

I followed him in silence, wondering where exactly he was taking me. It was only when we arrived at a part of the school I'd never been in before, did I realise he was taking me to his room. Once we were inside, he flipped the lights on, and I had to shield my eyes from the sudden contrast.

He locked the door behind him, and while he walked further into the room, I took my chance to take in my surroundings. The room was about the same size as ours. Except, instead of there being five beds, there was a couch, a TV, and big ass double bed in the middle of the room. I stared at it for a moment, not quite believing my eyes.

"Why do you get a double bed?" I asked before I could stop myself. "It's not like you're here that often."

"Well I _am_ a guest here," he said, looking at me over his shoulder. "Do you like it?"

Arching an eyebrow, I glanced at the bed. The duvet was so neat, as though no one had slept in it for a while. I smiled at the thought of him asleep in the middle, all alone…if only someone could be there to wake up with him.

I focused on Jasper before my mind could truly wander. He'd shrugged out of his blazer, and was now hanging it up in the wardrobe.

"Won't your friends wonder where you are?" I asked idly as he loosened his tie.

He shook his head. "I always planned to stay here tonight; they were just surprised to see me leaving so soon."

"Did you tell them about me?" I asked, curious.

"I think they've worked it out for themselves." He paused, shaking his head. "Fuckers will harass me the next time I see them."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

"Well…" He stepped forward, placing his hands on my hips so he could pull me closer. "They saw me dancing with the cutest girl in the room. That means they won't quit until I spill."

"What will you tell them?" I asked, barely registering anything aside from the fact he was leaning closer.

He grinned. "I haven't decided that yet."

I was unable to respond as he completely closed the gap and kissed me. He gave me a languid, closed mouth kiss, before stopping and moving us backwards. At first, I thought he was leading us towards his bed, and my heart thumped in my chest at the thought. I knew his intention when my back hit the wall.

My heart felt as though it was in my throat. The furthest I'd ever been with a guy was to make out, and while I was confident with Jasper, I was also quite nervous. It was a good nervous, though.

At that, I found myself smiling as his lips left mine and grazed along my jaw. I couldn't comprehend what it felt like; his touches were almost too much to handle. Until, suddenly, his hand slipped underneath the hem of my dress, and I gasped as he ran it up my thigh.

He groaned; it was a deep, guttural sound that formed in the back of his throat. I knew what he was feeling – the lace of my panties, and I was suddenly grateful I'd chosen to wear them. A second later, his grip on my tightened, and he lifted me up. Without thinking, my hold around his neck strengthened, and I wrapped my legs around his body, ignoring the fact my dress was now bunched around my hips.

Another groan left him as he quickly spun us around, placing me down on the bed in the next instant. Leaning over me, he hungrily captured my lips, claiming dominance as we moaned into each other's mouth.

By the time our lips parted, and he rested his forehead against my shoulder, we were both gasping for breath. My chest was heaving; brushing against his with every breath I took.

"Fuck, _Alice_, you're going to kill me," he growled, not lifting his head. "I have no control over this…over us…I can't…"

He pulled back then, his darkened eyes staring into mine. "You know you have to go back to your room, right now, don't you?"

My brow pulled together at his words. He sounded as if he didn't want to say them, but at the same time, there was a commanding tone in his voice that I couldn't ignore.

"Why?" I asked quietly, knowing, deep down, that I did have to go, but frankly, not giving a fuck about that anymore. I didn't want to leave; I wanted to stay here.

"If you don't, I'm gonna have a hard time letting you go."

_Screw t__hat_, I wanted to say. But I couldn't find my voice. With the way he was talking, and how his weight was pressing against me, it was a surprise I could even think straight.

"Jasper, I…"

The sound of someone rapping on the door made the both of us jump. Jasper half pushed himself off the bed, his eyes darting towards the door.

"Jasper, honey; are you still awake?"

_Fuck_.

It was Esme.

Jasper stood up, running his hands through his hair. The knocking came again, and neither of us moved a muscle. Jasper didn't know what the hell to do, and neither did I.

It was only when we heard the door handle being turned did we jump into action. Thank fuck Jasper locked the door; it was all I could think as he pulled me up from the bed.

"What do I do?" I demanded in a hushed voice, looking around me desperately for somewhere to go. There were no bathroom or long curtains to hide behind. The only other place was the…

"Get in the wardrobe."

My eyes nearly bugged out as I whipped around to face him. "_Are __you __fucking __serious __right __now_?"

He shot me a frenzied look. "Alice, just _do __it_. We're going to be in so much shit if my mum catches you in here."

I knew he was right, of course he was. If Esme knew I was here, I'd be expelled, for sure. Not only was I out of bed, but I was in her _son__'__s_ bedroom. She probably wouldn't let him back into the school until I was long gone.

"Jasper?"

At Esme's call, I scuttled over to the wardrobe, pulling it open and crawling into the bottom. It was full length, which meant I had no issues with fitting inside. It was only as I sat down, looking at my bare feet, that I remembered my shoes were still in the middle of the room.

Jasper seemed to realise at the same moment, as he quickly skidded across the floor and kicked them under the bed. With a quick nervous glance at me, he closed the door on me. A moment later, I heard him unlocking his bedroom door.

My heart was pounding loudly in my ears as I stared into the darkness, wondering what was going to happen. I silently prayed that Esme wouldn't sense something was off, or somehow realise I was in here.

However, when Jasper questioned her on the lights going out earlier, she seemed to reply as normal, telling him she didn't know who switched them off. In a way, I was surprised she didn't suspect me. It was only when she spoke again, did I realise why she hadn't.

"I saw you dancing with Alice," she said, a hesitant hint to her voice, and I found myself tensing, wondering what she was going to say next. Whatever it was, I wasn't sure I would like it.

"So?"

There was a pause. "Be careful, Jasper…_please_. I know I'm not in the position to tell you who you can and can't like…but…she's not from around here. In a month, she'll be flying back to America, and there's a very good chance we won't see her again. I don't want the two of you to fall for each other, only to have your heart broken when she leaves."

Breath caught in my throat as her words hit me square in the chest. In all my attempts at trying to be expelled, and after the amount of times I'd dreamt about going home, I'd never really allowed the truth to sink in.

Once I'd left, I wouldn't see any of them again. Not Rosalie, Bella, Jessica, Angela…not Jasper. All of this, all of the feelings I'd developed for him in such a short time, I'd have to leave them behind.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt tears pooling in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks.

It was in that moment that I realised the truth.

I didn't want to leave.

"What if it's too late for that?"

His voice was quiet; I barely heard him. I had to hold back a sob as I grasped that he sounded just as upset as I felt.

"What do you mean?" Esme asked, though I could hear it in the way she spoke. She already knew what he was referring to, just as I did. There was a long pause, then, and I closed my eyes, picturing his face as he finally answered.

"You said you don't want us to fall for each other…but what if it's too late?"

Tears streamed from my eyes as a sudden barb wire fist formed in my throat, making it hard for me to breath. It was too late for me; I'd fallen for him, I'd known that before the evening had started. But now I knew it was the same for Jasper, too, and though it should have been something to be happy about…the realisation saddened me even more.

Esme responded to him, but I didn't quite hear what she said, and when he replied again, it was muffled. I wasn't sure what happened next, but when the door to the wardrobe opened, I knew she was gone. He stood in front of me for a moment, expecting me to move. But I couldn't…I couldn't even stand up.

He bent down a moment later, and I felt his arms wrap around me as he lifted me out. Sitting down, he tucked me into his lap and wrapped his arms around my tightly.

"You heard…?"

I nodded slowly, sniffing softly as I tried to gain some kind of composure. The evening had started out so well, only getting better as the time passed…and now, now I was crying in his lap not knowing what to do next.

"She's right," I whispered, over the lump still in my throat. "I'll be gone in a month."

He shushed me, gripping me tighter. "Don't say it, Alice, not tonight…please."

I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing him in. The connection between us was still so new, but the strength it held was terrifying. I'd known him for just under three months, and seen him maybe a handful of times at the most. But already, it felt as if I couldn't live without him.

I remained curled in his lap. I wasn't sure how long we stayed there, but after a while, I knew I had to go. I wanted to stay with his arms around me. But I couldn't, and we both knew it. The fact Esme had been here meant she was finished with everything official for the night.

He knew my intention when I pulled away. "You have to go, don't you?"

I nodded once again, crawling from his lap so I could stand up. I didn't bother to put my shoes on after retrieving them from under his bed. He walked me to the door, following me out into the corridor.

"Would you like me to walk you to your room?" he asked, and though the offer was more than tempting, I shook my head, knowing it was impossible. Somehow, he'd known that, too, but still asked nonetheless.

"I'm going to be here all day tomorrow, too," he continued, his voice gentle in the quiet hallway. "I want to see you, to spend time with you. If we don't see each other at breakfast, come here, okay?"

I whispered my affirmation, and then closed my eyes as he leant forward and delicately kissed my lips. It was a completely different kiss to all the others, but it held so much more than anything I could have imagined.

Reluctantly, we both parted. After wishing each other a good night, I started walking away from him.

"I'll see you in my dreams, Baby Doll," he called after me, making me stop and turn back to him once again.

He was standing there in his unbuttoned shirt and dress pants, looking absolutely perfect as the moonlight from the window next to him shone down on him. I wanted nothing more than to go back up to him and never let him go. Everything within me screamed to do that.

But I couldn't, no matter how hard it was to go walking.

"I'll see you in mine, Jasper," I replied, knowing he probably hadn't heard me. Feeling heavy hearted, I turned away, and carried on walking. I didn't look back again, even though I was certain he was still watching me. I just knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to keep going.

I was nervous as I walked through the corridors towards my room, I was certain someone would walk around the corner any moment. It was only when I got towards the dormitories did I begin to relax. My mind was elsewhere – with Jasper – and it was only when the lights suddenly flickered on around me I realised how stupid it was to not run all the way back.

My heart slammed into my chest as I heard someone's footsteps behind me. I ran, not knowing what else to do. I looked back over my shoulder just as I rounded the corner, seeing the hallway was clear. I kept running…I was nearly there.

It was only as I got into the corridor of our room that I tripped, the shoes flying from my hands and clattering loudly on the tiled floor. My stomach dropped, and I scrambled for my shoes, hearing the footsteps behind me suddenly picking up speed.

I had one shoe, but the other had skidded half underneath the bookcase. Making a split second decision, I left it, knowing I'd be caught if I didn't. With my heart in my throat, I barrelled into the door of our room, pushing it open.

"Ah, here she is, girls, and doing the walk of…" Rosalie's voice trailed away from her as she saw the look on my face. "_What_ _happened_?"

But I had no time to answer her. "Quick, help me out of this dress!"

She jumped from the bed, coming to unzip me. I quickly jumped out of it, throwing it to the side and pulling on my pyjamas, not caring they'd just seen me in just my underwear.

"Someone followed me," I gasped out, still out of breath as I scrambled under my covers. Rosalie climbed back in bed, and Bella switched off the lights, just as we heard someone turning the handle on the door.

I could feel it, already, the sense of deep, nauseating dread forming in the pit of my stomach. When the door, and the lights were flipped on, I felt as if I was about to throw up.

Mrs Crawford stood in the doorway, her stare fixated on my bed. In her right hand was the shoe I dropped moments ago.

She didn't say anything as she stepped into the room towards me. Blood rushed through my ears as she placed the shoe on my bedside table and looked down at me. Though everything screamed at me not to, I looked up.

In her eyes, I could see it, the twisted satisfaction that she _had_ me, and she knew I had no way of getting out of this one. Without saying a word, she turned away and left the room, the door making a loud noise in the silent room as she left.

My head span as the silence pressed itself against me. She had caught me out of bed, and by tomorrow morning, Esme would've been informed.

This was it, this was the final warning Esme had given me. I was going to be expelled, and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening.

* * *

**A/N: Come on, you didn't expect everything to go as planned, did you? The chances of them actually getting away with breaking the rules like that were low. Something was bound to go wrong, as you can see at the end of this chapter.**

**You can find out what happens next in the coming chapter. In the mean time, please review? I'll give out teasers.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Chapter 11!**

**Thank you to those who read and reviewed, it means a lot. I wasn't sure about this part of the storyline…but it's too late to change it now, so I hope you like it.**

**Though it's one day early, happy birthday to an amazing friend, idealskeptic. You know if I could, I'd be right there to wish you happy birthday in person.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, I wouldn't be messing around with this website, or putting up with its numerous errors.**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Proof in Evidence**

**June 14th 2009**

**Alice POV**

I opened my eyes slowly. My dreams had been filled with Jasper. I pushed away the pillow I'd been clutching and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Jasper wasn't here, he never had been. It was just a dream; but even my subconscious had thought about getting caught. I'd told him about it…

The truth was I still had to face it all. I'd been caught outside after lights out, and though the punishment wasn't necessarily going to be severe on its own, it was all Esme would need to file my expulsion.

Curling my arms around my legs, I closed my eyes. The fear and anxiety in my stomach was like a constant ache, one I knew wouldn't go away. The girls showed signs of life around me as they began to sit up in bed.

I didn't know what to do as I felt them all turn their gaze onto me. What could I tell them? What could I say? The words could barely form in my throat, and when they questioned me on it, I was unable to articulate the words beyond the five that uttered from my lips.

"I'm going to be expelled…"

The four of them stared at me, not one being able to respond. Until, finally, Jessica hesitantly broke the silence.

"This was what you wanted, though, right?"

I slowly turned to look at her, still not being able to answer. I felt my eyes water, and I closed them, shaking my head. I had wanted it, for weeks I'd yearned to go home. But now that I'd most certainly gotten my wish, I didn't want it to be granted.

My mattress dipped, and I opened my eyes just in time to see Bella raising her arms to embrace me. I held onto her tightly, pressing my face against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered so that only I could hear. From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was crying, too.

* * *

I didn't accompany them down to breakfast. The thought of eating something turned my stomach. I couldn't possibly eat, not when I was already full of this sense of impending trepidation.

None of them wanted to leave me; they even offered to skip breakfast, too. But I made them go without me, the thought of them being here when Esme came to find me, and having to watch me walk away was something I didn't want them to see.

My thoughts drifted to Jasper as I walked through the empty corridors. Was he eating his breakfast by now? Was he even awake? He wouldn't know I'd been caught out of bed last night. He was still pleasantly oblivious to it, and maybe he was sitting, waiting for me to show up at his door.

I couldn't bear to think of him, not when I knew I'd be leaving in a couple of days. It hurt to know I wouldn't get to spend more time with him, even if it was only going to be for another month.

I was just walking down a corridor which led towards the changing rooms when I heard someone calling my name. Turning around, I faltered when I saw Kate standing just behind me. She stared at me for a moment, her gaze unwavering.

"Mrs Platt wants to see you in her office, immediately," she told me, the tone in her voice as clipped as it had been ever since the pictures surfaced. Unlike all the other times, hearing the way she spoke to me didn't amuse me. It just made me feel even worse.

"Okay." I nodded, retracing my steps. As I passed her, I stopped, turning to look at her. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about the pictures."

She didn't say anything; I didn't expect her to. I kept walking, knowing I had to go to Esme's office. What was the point of putting it off? The inevitable was going to happen, no matter how long I took.

As I walked, it felt as though I was walking to my jail sentence. The dread in my stomach was getting stronger, making me heavy on my feet. When I finally arrived at Esme's office, I took a deep, shuddering breath, before knocking once, twice, and waiting for a response.

When she told me to come in, I opened the door with a shaking hand and stepped inside. She looked up when I closed the door behind me, and for a moment, neither of us said a word as I hovered by the doorway.

"Take a seat, Alice."

Swallowed over the lump in my throat, I stepped further into the room, going to take a seat opposite her.

"We both know why you're in here, don't we?"

As I stared down at my lap, I nodded. She sounded disappointed, and I couldn't meet her eye because of it.

She sighed, moving some papers on her desk. "Why did you do it, Alice? Out of everything, this is the only one I really, just cannot understand."

I didn't respond to her, not really knowing what to say. In all honesty, I was finding it hard to understand why she was making such a big deal out of it. I knew what it meant, paired with everything else. But, like I'd thought earlier, being caught out of bed wasn't a big thing when dealt with singularly. What was there for her to understand?

I'd stayed out when I was supposed to be in my room.

"The pictures, stealing my keys, even the rebellious behaviour…I've seen various forms of this throughout my career," she went on. "But defacing school property; it's a new low."

My head shot up then as her words registered in my mind. _Defacing__school__property_? _What__the__fuck__is__she__on__about_?

"_What_?"

She looked at me for a long moment before standing up, walking around to my side of the table and dropping a picture into my lap. I picked it up and stared, not quite believing what I was seeing. It was of a wall, somewhere in the school, with the words _I__hate__this__school_ painted across it in red paint.

I didn't have a clue which part of the school this was taken from, but I finally knew what Esme was insinuating.

"I didn't do this," I told her firmly, putting the photo back on the table. She turned around from where she was standing at the window, and merely stared at me. I didn't know what to say, once again. However, this time, it wasn't from confusion. It was because the way she was looking at me, was as if she didn't believe me.

She walked back to her desk, reaching for something behind it. When she placed a paint spray can on the table, I eyed it cautiously, before turning to meet her impassive stare.

"Have you seen this before?"

I shook my head quickly, but determinedly. "I've never seen it before in my life. I swear to you, I did _not_ do this."

Something flashed across her eyes as she pursed her lips. When she spoke again, he voice was tighter, concise, even.

"Even after everything you've done, I had respect for you because you didn't lie to me. You owned up to it," she said, looking me directly in the eye. The way she was staring at me was a little disconcerting, but I refused to look away, to look guilty for something I didn't do. "But this, I don't get."

"I'm _not_ lying," I said through gritted teeth. This hadn't been what I'd been expecting, this wasn't my _crime_. Esme didn't respond, and it aggravated me even more. "Listen to me, for _fuck_ sake! I'm _not__lying_, I _didn__'__t__do__this_!"

Esme slammed her hand down on the table, making the paint can rattle. "Why does the evidence all point towards you, then, Alice? Why was this spray paint can in your room, if you didn't do it? I want to believe you, I really do, but I am finding it very hard to do that!"

I was completely speechless as I realised what that meant. The spray can, the one used to write on the walls, was found in our room. _My_room. I couldn't comprehend how, or why; I didn't know what to say, and I realised, belatedly, that my silence made it look as if I'd just proved her right.

"I haven't even touched the thing, so I don't know how it got into my room," I told her, trying to keep my voice calm and not allowing it to waver from my resentment towards this setup. "I would never do something like that."

She seemed to gain some composure as she took a deep breath. "So, who _would_ do it? Who else hates this school?"

I pursed my lips, wishing she would listen to me and believe what I was saying. In the back of my mind, I couldn't blame her, not really. From an outside point of view, I could clearly see the evidence _did_ point towards me. All my previous endeavours to be expelled, being caught outside after lights out the same night, and now, _somehow_, the key piece of evidence being found in my room.

Except, I didn't actually do it, and after everything, I didn't want this to be the thing to finally send me home.

"I don't know who else would do this," I replied tersely. "And I've already _told__you_ that I don't hate this school. Whatever I've done in the past, it was never anything to do with this place. I just wanted to go home."

I noticed how I'd spoken the latter comment in past tense almost straight away. But, either Esme didn't notice it as I had, or she was disregarding it.

"Well, it looks as if you're finally going to get your own way," Esme said, the disappointment back in her voice, stronger than before.

The chair screeched across the floor as I abruptly stood up. "No! I'm not the one to blame here – I wasn't even _there_!"

Esme's eyebrows rose and she sat forward in her chair. "Does this mean to say you were in your room the whole night?"

I swallowed heavily, knowing that, even though this was a question I could answer, the words were still hard to form.

"No, but, that's wha-"

"So, if you weren't in your room, which I know for a fact that you weren't, where were you? What were you doing?"

My response caught in my throat, and I choked on it, not knowing what to tell her. _I__was__with__your__son_. But the words were trapped, like a prisoner at the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell her, I wanted to prove my innocence, yet at the same time, I didn't want to get Jasper into trouble, nor did I want to lie to her by making something up.

After a moment of complete silence, Esme shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Alice, but if you can't prove to me you weren't there, then I have no choice but to believe you were the one to blame. I've contacted your father; he's on the next flight out. We'll determine what happens next once he's here."

No matter how hard I tried to hold them back, my eyes filled with tears. She stared at me for a moment, looking torn by her decision. I was tearing at the seams, I could feel it; I knew I wouldn't be able to hold myself together for much longer, so I turned away, quickly going for the door.

Once I was outside, I fell back against the wall, bursting into tears.

_How__can__this__be__happening__to__me_?

I couldn't believe it. This morning, I'd assumed I was going home for being caught out of bed. But now…this was a whole new level, and it felt ten times worse to know it was for something I didn't commit.

Knowing I had to get away from the office, I started moving. There was a physical pain inside my chest that wouldn't go away. I needed my father, I needed Emmett; I needed someone to hold me together.

As I rounded the corner, I nearly bumped into two people. When I saw who it was, I couldn't believe the day would get any worse. Nettie and Lucy took a step back and stared at me, slightly bewildered.

"What are you staring at?" I snapped, not even trying to wipe the tears from my face. "Have you never seen a girl cry before?"

They shared a quick, hesitant glance, but it was Nettie that spoke, "What happened?"

At first, I wasn't going to tell them. They were friends with Maria, they'd probably bitched about me endlessly with her. So what was the point of me wasting my time with them? They most probably shared her opinion of me; anyway, they were her shadows, after all.

But as they waited for me to respond, I decided against a snarky response, choosing, instead, to answer them truthfully.

"You know the '_I__hate__this__school__'_ graffiti? I've been _blamed_ for it," I told them, my voice trembling with the emotions coursing through me. "I'm most definitely going to be expelled for this, and I didn't even do it. So you can run back to Maria and tell her that she got her wish."

"Maria?" Lucy frowned, and then looked back at Nettie with a confusing expression on her face. "But…I thought this was what you wanted? I thought you wanted to leave?"

At their words, I cried harder, being unable to really stop myself. It shouldn't have surprised me they knew I wanted to leave. Obviously it wasn't just my four roommates who knew of my master plan to be expelled.

"Do I _look_ like I'm happy about this?" I demanded, not only my voice shaking, but my body as well. Things were happening too quickly; they were overwhelming me completely. Neither of them said a word in response, so I took a step back, suddenly wanting to be away from their inquisitive stare.

I ran, leaving them with nothing to do but watch me run away. Once I'd gotten around the second corner, I collapsed against the wall, sliding to the floor. Curling into myself, I rested my head against my knees and cried. By now the word would have spread about the graffiti, and I was certain either Nettie or Lucy would let someone know what was going on.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there, but, after a while, I stopped crying. My face felt blotchy, swollen, and my eyes hurt as if I was tired, but I knew it was more than that. I knew I had to get up before someone found me. I knew I had to go find my roommates, to tell them what happened. I knew I needed to find Jasper.

But I did none of those. My time here was rapidly decreasing; in some sense, I should have gone to find them already, to spend what little time I had left with them. However, after what Esme told me, what I was being _accused_ of, I wanted to be all alone, to wallow in all the stupid things I'd done previous to this.

I spoke too soon.

"Alice?"

The voice was cautious, but unmistakably Jasper. I looked up from my knees, watching as his eyes widened in shock. He repeated my name, urgently, this time, and ran forward, falling down in the space beside me.

Once he was seated, he pulled me into his lap, so similarly to the night before. The action in itself made things better and worse, all at the same time, and soon enough, I found myself crying into his sweater.

"I'm sorry, Alice, I'm so, so sorry," he whispered, holding onto me tightly, his voice full of guilt. "This is my entire fault."

I pulled back slightly, only enough so I could see his face. He was looking down at me, the guilt in his voice being reflected on his face, too, the strongest point being his eyes. When he met my gaze, I shook my head slowly.

"This isn't your fault," I told him hoarsely, trying to stop the shuddering of my breath as I spoke.

He mirrored my response. "How can you say that? I saw your roommates at breakfast. They told me what happened last night – about you getting caught. If I hadn't have made you break the rules, you would have been in your room the whole night."

"I didn't exactly protest much about breaking the rules." I sniffled, resting my head against his chest once again, not wanting to look at him as spoke again. "It's not that, not really, at least. Someone sprayed graffiti on a wall last night."

Before I could say anything, I felt him nod. "Yeah, I heard something about that. I think it was someone from my school, you know, in protest for ending the prom early."

I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing it was that simple. "Esme doesn't think so," I whispered. As the words left my lips, he tensed beneath me.

"She thinks it was…you?" His voice was quiet, disbelieving. "But…they have no proof that it was you! I don't get it. Just because you were caught out, they straight away thought it was you? That's bullshit, you were with m-"

"Jasper…" A sob forced its way up my throat as I said his name; the action stopping him midsentence. "Someone found the spray paint can in my room."

For once, he didn't have anything to say, and we sat in absolute silence as tears streamed down my cheeks. Finally, he drew in a juddering breath.

"But…how?"

I shook my head, rubbing my eyes with the sleeve of my top. "I don't know; I've never seen it before today. Whoever did it, maybe they put it in my room, thinking it wouldn't matter because I would be leaving the school soon, anyway…I just don't know, and I probably won't..."

Jasper shifted and then pulled me to my feet. My legs felt unsteady, but as Jasper took my hand, I gripped it, grounding myself. A moment later, he tugged on my hand, signalling for me to follow him.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, using my free hand to wipe away the tears from my cheeks.

He paused in his movement, looking back over his shoulder. "We're going to see my mum, and then I'm going to tell her where you really were last night."

* * *

**A/N: *hides* Things are just getting from bad to worse for Alice, aren't they? Do you think Esme was justified for accusing Alice of the crime? Should Alice have told her she was with Jasper?**

**From my POV as the author, Esme must have put a lot of thought into it before she sent someone to look for Alice. When it comes to whether or not Alice should have told her she was with Jasper, I'm not so sure. Yes and no.**

**You'll see more about that in the next chapter.**

**Hope my readers are all enjoying the festive season :)**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Chapter 12!**

**This update is a little later than usual as I was on holiday the week before. Hope you like the (stupidly short) chapter.**

**As always, thank you to my readers. This one is for misssylly.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, the character I'd be most proud of inventing would undoubtedly be Jasper.**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Admitting Defeat**

**14th June 2009**

**Alice POV**

I shook my head the moment his words sunk in, pulling away from him. He frowned and spun to face me. As I spoke, I let go of his hand.

"You can't tell her I was with you," I told him seriously, knowing he wasn't going to cooperate the moment the words left my lips.

"Are you _serious_?" His eyebrows rose as he spoke. "Why the hell not? It'll prove you're innocent!"

"_Will it_?" His eyes questioned my sanity, but I didn't allow him to speak. "I'm in enough trouble as it is without breaking another rule by admitting to fraternizing with someone in the school grounds. They found a fucking spray paint can in my _room_, Jasper, what makes you think they won't just accuse me of doing it after I left you?"

Catching my breath, I added, "Or say they _do_ believe I'm innocent, I'll still be expelled for being in your room in the first place, not to mention you'll get in trouble, too."

For a long moment, he just stared at me, as if still processing it all.

"You're really not going to let me tell her?" he said in a quiet, questioning voice. "I don't give a _fuck_ if I get into trouble, Alice; it's not as if I have a clean record at school, anyway. What difference will it make?"

I didn't respond, making him sigh dejectedly. "Why won't you let me _help_ you?"

I sniffed, feeling a lump forming in my throat. "Either way, I'm going to be expelled. Please…just promise me you won't tell her, I don't want to give her yet another reason to send me home."

He stared at me unwaveringly. I could see it in his eyes; he didn't want to promise me at all. Everything about him told me he probably still wanted to go and see her, but I couldn't let him do that, no matter how much I wanted to stay here.

"_Promise_ me," I repeated, louder. For a moment longer, he continued to watch me. Until, slowly, he raised his hands, running them over his face. When he pulled them away a short while later, he was looking down. I swallowed over the ever present lump in my throat, wishing things could be different.

When he finally looked up at me, there was a profound sadness in his eyes that made my chest constrict. Without saying a word, he closed the gap between us, and slowly wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes once again, not wanting to lose control as he finally whispered, "I promise."

* * *

Once we parted, we hadn't lingered in the hallway. He'd taken my hand once again and led me towards his room. He asked if I was sure if being in his room was such a good idea, but by that point, it was futile to even think like that. Besides, I wanted to go somewhere where we wouldn't be interrupted, and his room was really the only place we could go.

For a while, we'd remained curled up together on his couch, not saying a word. In a way, we were wasting precious time, but neither of us broke the silence, not for a long time. Just being here, together, was enough. The sense of foreboding was always present in my mind, but I tried my best to ignore it as I focused on Jasper.

"You have scars on your face," I mused after a while. I hadn't noticed them, not at first. It was only as I'd trailed my eyes along his jaw line did I see them. There were about three or four, in total, all dotted between his ear and jaw on the left side of his face. They ranged in sizes, the biggest being half the size of my little finger.

He turned slightly, the action momentarily hiding them from my view. "I was twelve at the time. It hurt like hell."

At first, he didn't continue, and I didn't push him to carry on. A minute passed, and he let out a quick chuckle. "My friends and I were messing about on our bikes, we were trying to do jumps and stuff. We made this ramp out of a plank of wood and some bricks. My friend went first, and he fell off his bike and hurt himself."

Jasper shifted to face me, rolling his eyes in the same instant. "Instead of letting that put me off, I thought maybe a longer ride up was necessary. I wanted to show off to the people watching, so I came zooming up the pavement, feeling as confident as anything, and hit the ramp at quite a speed. I think I actually flew for a couple of seconds…"

Despite what was going on today, the expression on his face made me smile, and I curled my legs in front of me as I waited for him to go on.

"I fell into some glass when I landed-" he touched the scars as he spoke "-it cut my cheek up something proper. Naturally, my mum had a fit when she found out what I'd been doing. She banned me from using my bike for at least four months, but by that point, it was cooler to be seen with stitches and scars instead of riding around on your bike. The ban didn't last forever, though. I ride a motorbike now, so she can't be that bothered by it."

My eyebrows rose at his latter comment. "You ride a _motorcycle_?"

He smirked slightly, nodding. "I started learning as soon as I was old enough. Been riding for just under a year now."

"I didn't know that about you," I mumbled, trying not to sound too disappointed. Seeing him on his motorcycle would have been something to look forward to, but now, I would probably never get the chance.

"Well, I'm sure there are a lot of things you don't know about me," he said, the smirk slipping from his face once again. I couldn't help but feel sad as his comment sunk in. There was so much I didn't know about him, and like with the motorcycle, I probably wouldn't have the chance to find out.

"So," he said, breaking the silence. "Have you ever fallen off a bike? I can imagine you had one of those little pink bikes with the basket on the front."

I forced a smile on my face. "I never learned. I can't ride."

He seemed surprised by this. "But…every child learns how to ride a bike at some point in their life, surely?"

"Not me," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I probably would have, at some point. But after my-"

I caught myself at the last minute, and looked away from him, realising what I was about to say. Jasper didn't know, and I'd come so close to telling him without a second thought. With anyone else, that just wouldn't have happened.

"After your, what?" he asked, a crease forming between his eyes as he spoke. I could tell he'd sensed the change in the mood. I didn't meet his eye. I needed to find the courage to say it. But when I finally did, he was taken aback to see my eyes were swimming with tears once again.

"After my mother died, I didn't really want to do anything like that," I whispered, the barb wire fist forcing its way up my throat as I told him. Jasper opened his mouth, only to close it again a moment later. There was sympathy in his eyes, but it wasn't the same as all the others whenever they found out.

"I'm sorry about your mother," he said gently, as he reached out and took my hand in his. It was comforting, and I squeezed it in response, expecting him not to say anything else. So I filled the silence.

"It was a car accident. I was six at the time, so I don't really remember much about that day. My little sister, Cynthia, was just three months at the time," I went on, looking down at our joined hands. "By the time my father had gotten passed the initial loss, the idea of learning how to ride a bike kind of disappeared. But, then again, most things did."

His thumb ran across my hand, circling back around a couple times. "Do you remember her? Your mother, I mean."

His question took me by surprise. Most the time, whenever I talked about my mother, the person I was talking to would apologise then do their best to steer the conversation away to something less awkward. Jasper was different. I'd known that already, but this, it proved just how different he really was.

Before answering him, I closed my eyes, trying to picture her face. "I remember small bits, like her smile, her perfume, or the lipstick she used to wear when she went out. But I've added parts, added things I've imagined would happen. Memories fade out over time, especially ones from when I was younger."

"Hey," Jasper whispered, moving so he could look me in the eye. "It doesn't matter if the memories are ones you've imagined. They must have come from somewhere, so hold onto them. They're still a part of her, no matter how hazy the connection is."

In spite of the melancholy feeling travelling through me, Jasper's words made me feel a little better. They were exactly what I needed to hear, and somehow, he'd known that.

As an afterthought, Jasper added, "I do that with my own parents, sometimes."

I remained quiet, not questioning him on it or asking for him to expand. I knew Jasper was adopted, but I didn't know the grounds behind it. Bella said Esme had raised Jasper since he was a baby. It was quite possible she'd heard wrong, what with the way rumours were taking out of context…but if it was true, I could understand completely when Jasper said he sometimes imagined scenarios between him and his parents.

"I'm sure you've gathered Esme isn't my biological mother," he finally continued, his voice turning distant. When I nodded, he carried on without a pause. "My parents died when I was about ten months old. Esme never told me the specifics of what happened, just that they died in a fire."

I didn't know what to tell him; what was there for me to say? How could I even articulate a response when what he'd told me was so heartbreakingly unjust? He was too young to remember them before they died, and clearly had very little of them left to hold onto. Yet before I could verbalise it, he continued.

"I never told Esme this, but I searched for the news report a few years back," he said, distant. "The fire broke out at night, apparently. They say the fire alarms in their block of flats weren't working properly; there was a fault, and it didn't wake them up. I was mentioned…they said I had been staying at one of their friend's houses for the night. A miracle, they called it…"

Wiping away the tears on my cheeks, I sat up onto my knees and pulled him against me. I held onto him, his head resting just below my chin. As my fingers ran through his hair, I felt him draw in a deep breath. He wasn't crying, but I could tell from the way he embraced me, that he was close.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Jasper," I whispered, my voice barely there. "The world is full of such unfair things…nobody deserves that."

After a minute, Jasper pulled back and looked up at me, staring straight into my eyes. "Esme fills the missing space inside where my mother should be, but…I've never had a proper father figure to look up to. Even though I know it's not the same scenario, I can at least understand how hard it is to grow up without both parents by your side."

Using the pad of his thumb, he brushed away a tear that had fallen from my eyes. We held our position for a moment longer, neither of us saying anything as he cupped my cheek with his hand.

"Thank you," I said quietly, breaking the silence with my gentle murmuring. "Thank you for being here…for telling me…"

He nodded, and that was it, it was all we needed. Jasper inched closer, then, only stopping when his lips were a mere breaths whisper from mine. My eyes flickered closed, and I pressed our lips together, revelling in the sensation that one touch could bring.

I could tell, as we entered into the languid kiss, that the connection between us was growing even stronger. I could feel it strengthening between us, like a rope binding us together. The pain I felt when I thought about us separating was physical, and as I twined my arms around him tighter, I wondered how this boy, so warm and inviting, could be gone and so very unreachable in only a few days time.

* * *

Though I wanted to spend the whole day with him, we both knew I had to go back to my school life before long. It'd been hard to say goodbye to him, knowing he would be gone tomorrow, even before I was. He promised we'd see each other again, tomorrow morning, at eight thirty, just before he had to go back to school.

When I'd finally managed to force my legs to move away from him, I didn't dawdle. I made my way back to the dorm room quickly, not wanting to bump into anyone. I came across a few people on my way, but thankfully, they didn't pay me any attention.

As soon as the door to my room came into sight, I picked up my speed even more, breathing a sigh of relief when I stepped inside. Not surprisingly, I found four sets of eyes watching me as I collapsed onto the chair beside my bed.

"Alice? What's happened?" It was Angela. "Where have you been?"

I didn't respond. I honestly didn't know what to tell them. But they deserved an explanation, so I told them everything I knew. I explained about Kate finding me, and sending me to Esme's office. I told them what Esme said, and how someone had discovered the spray paint can in our room. I even told them about Jasper, though chose not to mention the topics we talked about.

When I finished, they merely stared at me, utterly speechless. If I'd been in their position, I knew my reaction would have been the same.

"Alice…_did_ you do it?" Bella asked, almost reluctantly so. I fixed my gaze on her, wondering how she could even ask me. It hurt to hear her say it, and I tried my best not to show it on my face. In the back of my mind, I knew she was just asking to make sure, but still…

"No, of _course_ I didn't," I replied immediately, not quite being able to fully mask the offended intonation to my voice. "I would have told you all beforehand if I was planning on doing anything."

Bella looked down, abashed. "Sorry…I just…I had to ask."

I nodded, and then glanced at Rosalie, who spoke next. "But what about the spray can? How the hell did it get in here? Do you think someone planted it?"

She looked around at the others, before letting her gaze land on me once again. She looked as confused as I felt about the mystery spray paint can, though there was a hint of anger in her eyes, too, that didn't go unnoticed.

"I really don't know, Rosalie," I replied, frowning as I heard how tired and deflated my voice sounded. "Who would go to such an extent?"

She didn't have an answer for me.

"Maybe we could talk to Esme ourselves?" Angela said, sounding as though she was reaching for straws. "We could tell her you never mentioned it, when you've told us about everything else. What if we told her we saw you go with Jasper?"

I shook my head slowly; the slight ache in my chest throbbing to see them trying to help me get out of this, knowing already it was useless. In response, I repeated what I'd said to Jasper when he'd replied with a similar reaction. They couldn't tell Esme I was with him. If they said I never told them about the graffiti, it wouldn't be strong enough proof to counter out everything else. Besides, I was certain it wouldn't work, anyway.

The fact I was admitting defeat was exhausting me completely. I rarely gave up on anything; I rarely let things happen without going down fighting. But now, with this, I'd well and truly given up. After everything that happened, making friends – the best friends I could ask for, and finding Jasper, it was the fact I was about to lose them which was draining me of any fight I had left inside.

Though a large part of me wanted to stay here until the end, there was the part of me that I couldn't seem to ignore. It was the part of me that wanted to give up.

* * *

**A/N: *bites nails* what do you think will happen now? Definitely not a good thing Alice wants to give up. At the start of this story, I think I said this story would be quite light-hearted? Well, my angst filled mind obviously didn't agree with that…**

**An older character will be reappearing in the next chapter!**

**I know you all thought Jasper should tell Esme where Alice really was, so I just wanted to say I still stand by that. This isn't over.**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Chapter 13!**

**Thank you to my readers, your response is always something I look forward to each time I update.**

**Disclaimer: While Twilight may own me, I do not own Twilight.**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Goodbye**

**15th June 2009**

**Alice POV**

I felt incredibly sick when I woke up the following morning. It wasn't the kind of sickness that paired with when you were ill, no, in some way that would have been _better_. I could at least handle that because at some point, it would go. But this feeling of dread and anxiety and worry…it felt as though they were here to stay.

There was a possibility my father had landed in England already. I didn't know what time his flights was, and I had no way of contacting him to find out. While the majority of the school had been given back their cell phones, I wasn't allowed mine. Apparently, the decision as to whether your cell phone was returned after the first month was all based on good behaviour. That ruled me out completely.

While I knew all I had to do was borrow one of theirs, I didn't dare. Hearing his voice would only result in making things worse, so I would wait until he was here in front of me. It was the same with Emmett. Rosalie had offered to call him in an attempt to make me feel better, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it either.

As silly as it was, it would only make me miss him more.

The girls had been apprehensive as the bell rang to wake us up. The tension in the room hung like a storm cloud above our heads. When they started getting ready for the school day, I looked at my own uniform, wondering if I should even get ready. Officially, I hadn't been expelled. But the likelihood of it happening was very high, so what was the point of me carrying on as normal?

There was none. However, I still pulled my uniform on, nonetheless, even if it was for one last time. Similarly to the previous morning, I didn't feel I could stomach anything for breakfast, not even a glass of water. Though, at seven forty-five, I still journeyed with them down to the hall, just to keep up with the pretence. In the back of my mind, I knew eight thirty was fast approaching, and because of that, I clock watched.

I wanted to see Jasper again; I wanted to feel him holding onto me, just one more time. Yet at the same time, I felt a deep-set bout of uneasiness and discomfort, knowing the sooner I saw him, the sooner he would leave.

On our way there, we passed by Nettie and Lucy, thankfully, sans a certain member of their clique. I met their gaze briefly, surprising myself when I didn't see any contemptuous expressions on their face. They looked rather torn about something, but what it was, I couldn't quite place.

When we arrived at the dining hall, we took one look inside and decided against it for the time being. The room was swarming with students; there were too many people getting their breakfast. Instead of battling the crowd, we decided to loiter around the entrance until things calmed down.

The four of them were engaging me in small talk, doing anything to fill the unfamiliar silence that seemed to surround us. Rosalie had just gone to get an update on what was happening inside, when I heard someone calling my name. At the sound of her voice, I grimaced.

Since the early hours of Sunday morning, I'd managed to steer clear of Mrs Crawford. My luck in that department had quite obviously run low. I could only imagine the gloating, self-righteous look on her face as I turned around to see what she wanted.

However, the moment I realised why she'd called me, all thoughts of Mrs Crawford left my mind. I barely even registered her face as I saw the person standing behind her.

"_Dad_?" I said, not quite believing he was here already. I quickly moved forward, very nearly running into his arms. My eyes watered as he embraced me, and I stood for a long moment with my face pressed into his sweater. The smell of him surrounded me, the effects of it calming me down, just as it always did when I was a child.

When we pulled back, I looked up at him, taking in his tired face. "Have you had any sleep?" I asked without thinking.

"A couple of hours," he replied, smiling weakly at my question. "Honey, we're not here to talk about me."

As he finished, he looked away from me, focusing on Mrs Crawford, who I'd all but forgotten about. She was standing just behind us, and as I looked around, I realised there were a few others watching me and my father as they walked passed. When I looked towards the door, I saw my four roommates still waiting, their eyes on us.

I signalled for them to go in without me. Now my father was here, I certainly wasn't going to aimlessly sit in the hall whilst they ate their breakfast. At first, they didn't move, but after I mouthed the word _go_, they nodded and walked inside.

"You said there was a room we could talk privately?" My father's voice brought me back to the current situation, and I looked at Mrs Crawford, waiting for her response. At first, when she nodded, I thought my father was referring to somewhere he could talk to _her_, but as she led us to an empty classroom, leaving the keys with my father, I realised he meant somewhere for _us_ to talk.

It was only when she shut the door behind her did I turn back to my father. He eyed me for a minute, the look on his face telling me he was trying to work something out. Now he was here, I felt incredibly guilty for all the rule breaking I'd been doing during the past few months.

He rarely shouted at me, save for the time back in April. Even when the principal at my high school had to call him in because of my answering back to teachers, he didn't shout at me. It was the look of disappointment he'd wear whenever he'd talk to me about it that would make me step back in line.

I hated disappointing him; it made me feel like utter shit whenever I did, and right now, he looked so very disappointed. Esme told me the other month she'd been talking to him over the phone, so it wasn't very hard to believe she'd informed him of my other various run-ins with the rules.

"What have you been doing, Alice?" he asked, deflated. "Is this place really so bad that you have to force your way back home?"

I looked down, feeling ashamed of myself as I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Dad."

He sighed, pulling me into his side. "It's not me you should be apologising to. Esme told me what happened…damage to property, Alice, this is _very_ serious. I didn't want to believe her when sh-"

A sob built up in my chest, escaping my lips a second later. "It wasn't me; you know that's not the kind of thing I'd do. I owned up about the pictures and the keys, but this…I swear on Mom's name I didn't do it."

As I finished, he pulled back so that he could see my face. I met his gaze, my eyes watering when I saw the trust he held in them.

"If you say you you're not to blame for this, then I believe," he murmured softly. "I'm going to have to talk to Esme about this and get to the bottom of why they supposedly found their evidence in your room. But, first, you're going to have to tell me what you were really doing that night. You were caught out of bed, correct?"

I nodded.

"We were supposed to go back to our rooms, but I didn't. I stayed out with someone," I told him, wishing I could tell him the whole truth, but also knowing that if I did, he'd take the information straight to Esme. At least this way, he would tell her I was with someone, and from there, she could come to whatever conclusion she liked.

"Have you told any of this to Esme?"

I shook my head quickly, ignoring his shocked expression. "If I told her, I would have to say who I was with, and I can't…I can't get them into trouble, not when the outcome is going to be the same whatever I do."

He didn't look happy and his next response confirmed this. "I think we'll talk about that a little more before we see Esme, okay? If it's going to prove you didn't do this, then you'll tell her whatever you have to."

I didn't have the energy to argue or try and show him why I couldn't tell her I was with Jasper without pre-warning Jasper first. Besides, if my father was going to find out I was with a guy, and cared for him enough to not want to get him into trouble, I wanted to be the one to tell him without an audience.

To pacify him, I nodded, not knowing what I was going to do when we really did go and talk to Esme.

"I don't like seeing you like this," he said, pressing a kiss to my hairline when I leaned against him. "You're usually so full of fight. It gets you into a hell of a lot of trouble, but you're not you without it. Seeing you like this tells me there's something more than just the leaving that's upsetting you."

I closed my eyes tight, not knowing how to even begin. There was more to it than just the leaving. Of course I didn't want to leave, but it was the people I was leaving behind that made this so much harder.

But most of all it was to do with Jasper. I was falling in love with him, I knew that now, and it was breaking my heart.

He sighed when I didn't respond and wrapped his arm tighter around me. For a while, we remained sitting beside each other in silence. There was so much I wanted to talk to him about – Cynthia, Emmett, _home_. But the words just weren't coming, the mere thought of talking about home, knowing I was going back in the near future, was too painful. It surprised me, however, when the most unlikely of topics came to mind.

"I'm sorry for what I did with Tanya's things," I mumbled, not apologising for the bitch, but for the fact she'd broken up with him because of it. "Emmett told me she walked out…"

His response took me by surprise when he let out a slight chuckle. "Now that's something I never thought I'd hear you say," he replied, a slight teasing tone to his voice. He sobered once again. "You were right though, honey, she was no good for me, anyway. I've already got the girls I need in my life."

I immediately felt worse as his comment sank in. I knew Tanya wasn't right for him, and in a way, I was glad he could see that. But on the other hand, I knew it meant my father would be alone again, and despite everything I felt whenever he met someone new, I just wanted him to be happy.

Before I could say anything, though, he added, "Talking of Emmett, when he heard what was happening with you, he told me he wanted to get on the plane with me. I had to make him see sense, though. He's in the middle of his finals; it just wasn't logical for him to come."

Despite my mood, I couldn't help but smile at what he'd said. Though I didn't want to go home just yet, there was one thing I was looking forward to, and that was seeing him again. I missed him like crazy; Cynthia, too, and it would feel good to be with them again. In fact, Emmett's comfort would be exactly what I'd need the moment I step off the plane.

He might have come across as the joker who took nothing to heart, but when things got serious, Emmett was the most loyal and caring person I knew outside my family. When he comforted you, there were very few things that felt better than his embrace. The only other person who rivalled that was Jasper.

_Jasper_.

I bolted to my feet, my heart clenching painfully in my chest as I looked around the room for a clock.

"What's the time?" I demanded when I couldn't find one. My father studied me cautiously for a moment before he looked down at his watch.

"My watch is still set in the time zone back home. Hold on," he said, fiddling with the buttons on the side. My hands shook when he didn't pick up on my urgency. "Ah, there we go. It's eight thirty-nine, why?"

My stomach dropped as his words registered. Eight thirty-nine. Jasper said he was leaving at eight thirty.

_No_.

Nausea rolled though me as I whipped around and ran for the door, only stopped when my father said, "Wait, where are you going?"

"There's something I need to do, wait here!" I told him quickly, wrenching the door open and running outside. My heart was beating an irregular rhythm in my chest as I hastily tried to work out what to do next. The mere thought of him leaving without saying goodbye was making my head spin, but I pushed myself forward, running in the direction of his room.

I sprinted down the corridors, ignoring any and all quizzical glances anyone sent my way. My mind, my thoughts, my heart, they were all on Jasper, and I silently wished, as I rounded the corner to his hallway, that he was still there, waiting for me.

When I reached the door, I banged my hand down against it, calling out his name. I didn't get a response, so I knocked again, harder this time, tears springing in my eyes as I did so. The dull ache in my chest throbbed.

He wasn't here.

Pulling myself away from the door, I started running towards the front entrance, hoping, miraculously, that I would be able to catch him before he left. However, as I ran passed a clock, I saw that it was eight forty-five, and the chances of him still being here were incredibly slim.

I kept running, though, and when I pushed open the doors of the front entrance, I ran out, hopelessly looking around for any signs of him. Breath caught in my throat as my chest tightened. I could feel the disappointment curling its way up my spine as the truth finally dawned on me.

Jasper had gone, he wasn't here. I was never going to see hi-

"_Alice_?"

I spun around on the spot as I heard my name being called. Once again, I was unable to breathe as I saw him standing just outside the entrance, his eyes trained directly on me. He was dressed in his uniform – black pants, a blazer, shirt, stripped tie and an intricate school badge on his breast pocket.

With tears sliding down my cheeks, I ran at him, throwing myself into his arms when I was close enough. He entangled his arms around me tightly as I sobbed against his chest. I breathed him in, trying to commit it to my memory before it was too late.

"I thought you'd left without saying goodbye," I said, my face still pressed against him. The words came out jilted, broken. It was the kind of crying that stopped you from being able to do anything coherent.

He pulled back slightly, tilting my head up so he could see my face more clearly. "I was with my mum just before eight thirty, but there were two girls waiting to see her, so I left and went looking for you. I found your roommates; they said you went off with your father. Alice, I couldn't find you anywhere, I thought…I thought I wouldn't get to see you."

I nodded uselessly, gripping the lapels of his blazer as he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. It was a desperate kiss, one born from two people trying to see everything, feel everything, in such a short space of time.

If anyone was watching us, I didn't care, and when we parted, I didn't glance around as he took my hand and led me to a garage just around the corner from the entrance. I'd never seen it before, but, then again, I'd never had the need to come here before today.

Jasper punched in a code on the box beside the door, and as we stood back, the door slid upwards, revealing two cars and a motorcycle. I stared at it for a moment, not quite believing the sleek, silver motorcycle in front of me was something Jasper drove.

The words _Ducati 848_ was written across the side. Even from my limited knowledge of motorcycles, I knew it was an older model, but even so, it looked fast. Too fast, almost, for someone of his build.

But I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as I turned my gaze to Jasper who was standing before me.

"What happens now? For you, I mean," he said quietly, an edge to his voice that told me he was barely holding it together.

I looked down, shaking my head. "I don't know. My father is going to talk to Esme, and then it's going to be taken from there. But he's here…which means I'm going; she wouldn't have asked him to come if I wasn't."

Instead of returning my gaze to him, I glanced around the room, trying to stop myself from bursting into tears once again. Just looking at him was enough to push me over the edge, and true to form, when I met his eye, any composure I had left, slipped.

He didn't say anything at first, merely staring at me with sad, anguished eyes. After a moment, he reached in his pocket and retrieved a piece of paper. He handed it to me, and I looked down to see his contact details written upon it.

"I don't want you to disappear from my life," he whispered, not attempting to say it louder in case his voice broke. "No matter how far away we are from each other, I want to hear from you, got it?"

I nodded, being unable to give him a verbal response as he pulled me into a tight embrace. I held onto him, wishing there was a way to stop this from happening, to just stay with him forever and never have to worry about being apart.

When I felt him pull away from me, the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach started to rise up as if it was bile. He whispered my name as he leant down and brushed his lips against mine. It wasn't the same as earlier, this kiss was different, slower, but the sense of trying to get something more out of it was still there.

As our lips parted, he stared down at me, studying my face as he wiped away my tears. "I have to go…"

I couldn't respond to him, I couldn't do anything. It was tearing me apart to watch him leave and I could tell just from the way he was looking at me, that it was exactly the same thing to him, too.

With reluctance in his gait, he went over to his motorcycle, pulling on the jacket that was draped across the back. I watched him, trying to absorb everything. I followed him when he wheeled the motorcycle out the garage and stopped just in front of it to close the door behind him.

The seconds were ticking by, his departure getting closer and closer with every shallow breath I took. Once the door was closed, he turned back to me, and I knew this was it, this was our final goodbye.

I stepped forward, bringing my hand up to rest across his cheek. "Thank you for making these past few weeks better than I could ever imagine."

Though I could tell he was doing his best not to, his eyes swam with tears as he rested his hand over mine, stroking his thumb across it.

"Alice, I…" But the words caught in his throat, and he stopped, a single tear trickling from his eye. Taking in a shuddering breath, I wiped it away and pulled my hand back, wrapping my arms around myself.

Though this was goodbye, I couldn't bring myself to actually say the word, and I had the feeling Jasper was going through the same thing. The finality of actually saying the word was too strong, and so he merely nodded and reached for his helmet.

I tried to stop my body from shaking as he placed the helmet on his head and swung his leg over the side of the bike. With one last, lingering glance in my direction, he lowered the visor and removed the small stand on the side. The motorcycle roared into life, and a moment later, he was gone.

I watched until he disappeared out of sight; only then did I fall to pieces. The ache in my chest that I'd felt earlier seemed to multiple in a matter of seconds, I clutched at my chest, gasping for air.

After the minutes passed, I found myself staring at the piece of paper he'd handed me. I ran my fingers over the numbers and letters, knowing they were the only connection I had with him now.

By the time I'd gathered myself together and stopped crying, the bell signalling the first class had long since rang. I walked back through the empty corridors with an incredible slowness in my steps, as if my legs weren't cooperating anymore.

My skin felt stiff from dried tears, and for certain my eyes were bloodshot, but there was nothing I could do as I pushed open the door to where my father was waiting. The moment he saw me, he rushed forward, cradling me in his arms.

"Alice? What's happened?" he demanded worriedly.

I sniffled, trying to hold my shit together. "I had to say goodbye to someone…"

"Oh…I'm sorry, honey," he whispered, pressing his lips into my hair. There was nothing more he could say or do, so he held onto me tighter. After a while, I pulled back and rubbed my hands over my face.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

My father looked apprehensive, but I wasn't completely sure at what he was aiming his apprehension. He didn't question me, though, and together, we made our way towards Esme's office in silence.

When we arrived at the door, my father knocked immediately, waiting for Esme to let us in. To my surprise, she opened the door and stepped out, an unmistakable look of stress, and anger, and tension, spread across her face.

She took one look at me, and her expression seemed to soften somewhat. It confused me even more as she glanced at my father and frowned.

"Alice, can you take your father to your room?" she asked, making me stare at her in complete bafflement. "Something has come up that needs my immediate attention. I will send for you when the time comes."

Without waiting for a response, she walked away, disappearing around the corner a moment later. My father and I shared at glance, the expression on his face looking as perplexed as I felt.

"What was that all about?"

I turned to look at the place Esme had just departed, wondering what could've been so important to have her acting the way she was.

"I really don't know."

* * *

**A/N: What the hell is going on, huh? You'll find out in the next chapter. Let me know what you thought of this one in the meantime.**

**It was quite hard to write the Alice/Jasper goodbye scene. In my mind, I can kind of imagine Jasper pulling up on some quiet street and crying at the side of the road. But, then again, that's because I love imagining Cryingsper. If you've read my other story _Lost in Orbit_, you'll know exactly what I mean.**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Chapter 14!**

**Thank you to my readers, as always. Sorry I made you wait...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 14 - Revenge**

**15th June 2009**

**Alice POV**

My father and I had been sitting in my room for well over an hour now. Neither of us knew what was going on, and Esme still hadn't turned up. For the most part, we sat in complete silence. The fact Esme was making us wait was causing havoc to my insides, and I honestly felt as if I was going to go mad if I didn't get out the room anytime soon.

Unlike my father, who had taken up residence in the chair nearest my bed, I found myself unable to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. I kept walking passed the window just to get some fresh air. At one point, I merely stood looking out towards town, wondering what Jasper was doing now.

I was standing at the window with Jasper's contact details in my hand, when Esme finally came in. Her eyes lingered on my father for a moment before she turned to address me directly.

"I'm really sorry for making you wait," she said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "There was something I needed to get to the bottom of before I talked to the both of you."

I frowned, not really making much sense of her cryptic response. "Was it something to do with me?"

She hesitated, her gaze flickering to my father. "We'll talk about it once we get back to my office."

I was on high alert as I shared a glance with my father. Whatever it was, it had something to do with me, I was sure of it. If it wasn't, she'd have said. As we walked, I kept wishing she would pick up the pace. The tension was ever present, and the anticipation was damn near killing me.

Finally, we arrived at the office, and after telling her secretary not to let anyone in, she told us to take a seat in front of her desk. I sat down, my hands shaking slightly now we were here. This was it; this was where everything came to a head.

Before Esme could begin, my father cleared his throat. "Mrs Platt, before we begin, Alice has something to tell you regarding her whereabouts on the night of the incident."

My eyes nearly bugged out as I sharply turned to look at him. _Was he for real_? I wanted to ask him if it was impossible for him to keep quiet until Esme told us whatever she needed to. When I slowly turned back to look at Esme, she was looking at me, as if surprised by my father's announce.

However, my throat was completely dry with the words I couldn't form, and after a few seconds, Esme shook her head and clasped her hands in front of her.

"Actually, I don't think we'll necessarily need to know where you were that night, Alice," Esme informed us, her comment taking me by surprise.

I sat forward in my chair. "What do you mean?"

She looked almost hesitant as she glanced between us. "Some new evidence has arisen. Two people came forward and gave me reason to believe someone else was the culprit. I went to talk to the person accused – that was where I was before coming to talk to you. She eventually owned up to the crime."

Relief washed over me so quickly I felt a little lightheaded. Gripping the armrest, I tried to compose myself enough to speak.

"Who was it?"

Esme shook her head. "I'm sorry, Alice, I can't tell you that right now."

Her response irritated me, but I tried not to show it as my father asked the next question I had in mind. The authoritative tone of his voice made pride flare in my chest; he wasn't happy about this, I could see that immediately in the way he addressed her.

"So, what about this spray paint can you supposedly found in my daughter's room?"

"Well, that was explained, too," Esme replied, her usually composed demeanour looking slightly flustered. "The morning after the incident, she planted the evidence in Alice's room, intended Alice to get the blame."

"_What?_" I shrieked, anger bubbling through me quicker than the relief had, earlier. "I was _set up_? This is fucking outrageous!"

"Language, Alice," my father admonished quietly, making me settle down. "But I agree; this _is_ outrageous. Why would someone do that?"

She met my eye briefly, before replying. "There were a few…reasons, of which I can't inform you of yet without telling who it was. For now, I hope you'll accept my apology, Alice, for ever doubting you."

I nodded, knowing it wasn't her fault. If the roles had been reversed, I probably wouldn't have believed myself, either. All the evidence _had_ pointed towards me; the deal was almost signed, sealed and delivered. But now…now everything was different.

"What happens now?" I asked, knowing I'd repeated the exact same question Jasper had asked me earlier.

_Jasper_.

I discreetly shook my head, not wanting to think about him right now. Not when my complete attention had to be on Esme.

She smiled to herself. "_Sadly_, you'll have to put up with the English weather for another few weeks."

Breath gushed out of me as I clutched onto my father's arm. "Really? I really get to stay?"

"Yes, Alice, you get to stay," she said gently, the smile still on her face. "However, you _did_ break the rules that night, and so I'll have to issue you with a detention and write a formal warning on your report."

I nodded quickly, not being able to stop the elated feeling spread through me. "Of course, God, _yes_, I'll take that."

My father moved so he could squeeze my hand. I held onto it tightly, letting my mind run away with itself. I was allowed to stay…I could spend more time with Angela, Bella, Jessica and Rosalie. But, most of all, I got to spend more time with Jasper.

_Jasper_.

I had to tell him.

"If it's okay with you, Mr Cullen, I'd like to talk to Alice on her own for a moment," Esme said, breaking me from my musings. My father nodded and departed the room, leaving me and Esme alone to talk. For a moment, she didn't say anything as she clasped her hands once again.

"So, are you going to tell me where exactly you were Saturday evening?"

I gulped. I knew full well I could lie to her, I could say anything just to settle her mind. But, after everything, I couldn't lie to her, not after what she'd told me about respecting me for telling the truth.

My lap suddenly became very interesting to stare at. I didn't want to see her reaction as I told her. "I was with Jasper…"

It was silent for a long while, and I winced, wondering how she was going to react. Her response, however, was something I hadn't expected.

"Thank you, Alice," she said softly, making me look up and study her expression. She was _thanking _me?

"What?" I asked, my brow furrowing in confusion. "You're not angry at me?"

She sighed, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. "Honestly, Alice, if you'd told me you were with him when we first talked, I probably would have been. But…just after nine this morning, I got a call from a rather distraught Jasper telling me you were with him, and that there was no way in the world you could have ever done it."

I looked down once again, but this time, it wasn't to escape her gaze. Jasper had told her, probably minutes after he'd left me this morning. I'd made him promise me he wouldn't tell her, but he'd gone and told her, anyway, in a last bid to get me to stay.

I was relieved. Esme knew about us now, and even though we weren't going to be completely obvious about our relationship in front of her, we didn't have to hide and distance ourselves whenever she was near.

"Alice, as his mother, I'm not going to pretend I'm overly happy to hear about the two of you," she continued. My heart sank at her words. "But…I'm not going to stop you from seeing each other. I can tell he really likes you, and it's pretty obvious you feel the same about him."

It was slightly awkward to talk to her about this, being the headmistress of the school and everything, but I nodded, nonetheless, wanting her to know just how serious I was about to Jasper. When I looked back up to meet her eye, she was smiling at me slightly, the kind of smile you wouldn't expect someone of her position to give.

"I think you should get out of here before I cross over the line between being your headmistress and Jasper's mother," she said, shooing me away with her hand.

I grinned. "Thanks, Esme."

I was halfway to the door when she stopped me. "Can you tell you father to come back in here, please," she said in a strangely nervous voice. "Oh, one more thing…Jasper said to tell you he'll see you on Saturday."

I looked back over my shoulder, a stupidly wide smile threatening to burst off my face. To save my embarrassment, I kept moving towards the door. My father came towards me the moment I stepped out and cocked his eyebrow when he saw my expression.

"Esme wants to see you," I told him, my voice still full of disbelief and happiness. He looked at the door behind me, but didn't go inside.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked a moment later.

"To see my friends…I want to let them know I'm staying," I replied, frowning as I thought about what _he_ was going to do. "Are you going back home later today?"

Once again, he looked at the door behind me before shaking his head. "I'm not leaving until Thursday. I thought you'd be coming back with me, so I booked the return flight for a few days later, just so you had time to say goodbye to everyone properly."

Admiration washed over me as I stepped closer, having the sudden urge to embrace him. Even if I had been expelled today, we wouldn't have gone home for a few more days. He knew I'd need time to fully say goodbye.

"Thank you, Dad," I mumbled, my face against his chest. "I'm sorry for all the problems I've caused you over these past few months."

He sighed and pulled back, nudging my chin with his hand. "Don't worry about it, honey. You wouldn't be _you_ if you weren't causing some kind of trouble. Now go on, you should go before I take that back."

We grinned before parting ways. I watched him knock and enter Esme's office before going off to find my roommates. When I checked the time, I knew they'd just be finishing their second class.

I sped up, hoping to catch them when they came out. Luckily, I got there just as I heard our teacher dismissing the class. I stood back, watching as the students stepped out. A couple looked at me, as if they knew what happened. Others totally ignored me until Angela stepped out, followed by Jessica, Bella and Rosalie.

"Alice!" Jessica exclaimed. They came rushing over, looking taken aback as they took in my obvious elation.

"What happened?" Bella continued.

I took a deep breath to stop from jumbling my words. "Someone came forward…I'm not being expelled. I'm _staying_!"

They showed different stages of pure shock as I finished. But after a moment, they all looked as ecstatic as I felt. I was staying…I didn't have to say goodbye yet. _God, it was such a good feeling to let it fully sink in_.

"What do you mean, _someone came forward_?" Rosalie asked, being the first to sober from the happy high.

I looked around; there were still a lot of people in the corridor, and I didn't want to risk anyone overhearing me. So I signalled for them to follow me, and soon enough we were making our way outside. It was a good thing we had a break time, or else I'd have to wait until the next class was over…and I really didn't want to wait for this.

"When my father and I went to see Esme, she told me us to wait in my room because she had to go see someone urgently," I told them, rushing over the words. "She came back about an hour later, and that's when she told us two people came forward and that she got a confession out of the girl who really did it."

They all shared a quick glance, before Bella asked, "What time did you go to see her?"

"It was a little after nine, I think. Why?"

Bella bit her lip, looking almost hesitant to tell me. "I think I know who did it…"

"_What_?" I gasped. "Who was it? Esme wouldn't tell me."

"I think…I think it was Maria," she finally whispered. Anger flared the second her response sank in. _Maria_? Part of me couldn't believe she had it in her to do something as audacious as that, but the other part of me could see it quite clearly. She hated me, and made it quite clear since day one; she wanted me out…and no one would have ever suspected her of doing such a crime. Me, on the other hand? I was the perfect suspect.

"That little _bitch_!" I ground out, clenching my hands into tight balls. "Who the hell does she think she is? That's taking things too fucking far! If I ever get my hands on her…"

My voice trailed away, being too livid to continue my threat. I let out a low growl and kicked at some stones around me. The girls just watched me, allowing me to let it out. After a few minutes, I took a deep breath, forcing the sensible side of me to show its face once again.

"So, how do you know it was her?" I asked, knowing I needed to be sure. Even if it _wasn't_ Maria, I'd never be able to see eye-to-eye with her. Right now, though, I had to be sure. If I saw her, I'd most likely live to regret my actions.

"About half an hour into our first lesson, Esme came out looking Maria," Angela told me in her matter of fact voice. "She didn't come back to lesson after that, although…about ten minutes after Maria left, Nettie and Lucy joined the class."

It dawned on me what she was getting at. "Do you think it was Nettie and Lucy who came forward?"

The thought alone shocked me. Could it possibly be true? Could Nettie and Lucy – Maria's _shadows_ – have been the ones to turn on their friend?

Jessica voiced my inner thoughts. "But why would they turn on their best friend? They pretty much got her expelled; you wouldn't catch me doing that with you guys."

"I'm not so sure they _were_ best friends," Rosalie added, making us all turn to her. "Nettie and Lucy are, sure, but Maria? I don't know. I mean, we all know Maria is a bitch, but even _they_ don't look happy to hang around with her most the time."

It was silent as we contemplated it. I hadn't seen them around often. Hell, I tried to avoid the trio most the time. But if what Rosalie said was true, then that meant they'd done it to save my back, too. Maybe they weren't as bad as I first thought…

I had to find out the truth.

"We need to find them," I told them seriously, already trying to work out where they'd be. "I want to get to the bottom of this."

Within seconds, they readily agreed with me.

* * *

It took quite a while to actually find them. We searched all the usual places, like the food hall, the dormitories, even out the front of the school. In the end, we found them sitting on the benches around the side. They actually looked a little apprehensive when we approached, but made no move to leave.

"Were you the ones to talk to Esme this morning? Was it Maria?" I asked as soon as I was close enough. I didn't see any point of beating around the bush; there wasn't time for that. I needed to know the truth and the sooner the better.

Nettie looked between us all, then at Lucy, before nodding. "How did you work it out? Did Esme tell you?"

I shook my head, but Rosalie answered for me. "You arrived late to lesson, coincidently just after Esme came to escort Maria to her office. It doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together."

"Why did you do it?" I asked when neither of them said anything. They still looked hesitant, and I had a fleeting thought they weren't supposed to talk about this until everything was final. _Screw that_, I wasn't waiting.

"Can we talk to you alone, Alice? Please?" It was Nettie that spoke again; it seemed Lucy just wanted to remain quiet. I looked at my roommates, and though I could tell they didn't want to, they told me they'd see me later. I waited until they were out of sight before I looked back at them, wanting answers.

I prompted them with my eyes, and Lucy took a deep breath. "We didn't know she was doing it. We would have tried to stop her if we had." Nettie nodded, but didn't input anything more. "In the morning, we saw her with the spray can…so we followed her. We saw her go into your room."

I gritted my teeth but didn't say anything. There were so many obscenities at the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't let them slip, not in their presence.

"We knew whatever she was planning, she was going to pin the blame on you," Nettie went on quietly. "It wasn't fair on you, and honestly? You're not as bad as she tries to make out. She took it too far…all because you rejected her offer when you first arrived…and obviously because of Jasper."

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name. "She did this because she's jealous I talk to Jasper? That's pathetic."

_Well, more than just talk_…

Once again, they both shared a hesitant glance. "There's something else…" This time, I could tell Lucy really didn't know whether or not to say it. I looked at her expectantly, anyway, knowing she _had _to tell me.

"Maria found out you stole the keys last month…she came to the conclusion that you were the one to put it in her pocket…"

My eyebrows rose; I'd all but forgotten about that incident, given everything that happened afterwards. I didn't say anything to them, what could I say? In a way, she'd done the same thing I'd done the month before…except…this was more serious…right? This wasn't just trying to get expelled; this was getting _revenge _on someone else.

It was the only way I could justify it.

"Oh." At first, it was all I could say in response. "I'm not all innocent in this…but like you said, Maria went too far."

After a beat, I added, "Thank you…for helping me. You didn't have to, but I'm really grateful you did."

They both nodded, but didn't make a further comment. There was a slight awkwardness in the air, and I honestly couldn't be surprised. They'd been friends with Maria for a long while, and up until today, I would have said they hated me as much as Maria had. To see they'd turned against their friend and helped me out of trouble…I'd never be able to repay them, but that didn't make it any easier to stand here talking to them.

In the end, I decided to leave them to it. I thanked them again, and then said I was going to look for my friends. I didn't search them out straight away, though, needing some time alone to think. Today had brought me a lot to think about.

Not only about Maria, but it also made me think about myself. At the start of term, I'd done some things that I weren't proud of. Looking back, I knew I shouldn't have tried to set Maria up in the first place. Maybe this entire situation still would've happened, but how could I be sure? I didn't know, and I couldn't help but feel that this was as much my fault as it was Maria's for committing the crime in the first place.

That didn't excuse Maria, though, not by a long shot. As I finally started looking for my roommates, I secretly hoped I'd run into Maria. My father didn't condone physical violence, but right now, I didn't give a fuck.

I was still mad enough to say the bitch deserved it.

* * *

**A/N: What do you think? I tried to keep things in canon with Nettie and Lucy turning on Maria. As for Alice, she's realising what goes around comes around. She definitely learnt her lesson here. But who'd have thought Maria had it in her? Jealously gets to everyone.**

**I hate when this happens, but this is the last chapter I've written. This is a problem when I'm writing like ten things at the same time…I'll see you guys again soon, hopefully.**


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